News release: “Regional and state unemployment rates were generally higher in December. Forty-three states and the District of Columbia recorded over-the-month unemployment rate increases, four states registered rate decreases, and three states had no rate change, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the year, jobless rates increased in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The national unemployment rate was unchanged in December at 10.0 percent but was 2.6 percentage points higher than a year earlier…The West had the highest regional jobless rate in December, 10.7 percent. The Northeast recorded the lowest rate, 9.2 percent. The Northeast had a statistically significant rate increase over the month (+0.5 percentage point). The South had the only other significant regional rate change (+0.3 percentage point). Over the year, all four regions registered significant rate increases, the largest of which was in the West (+3.3 percentage points).”