FACT CHECK: How Many States Are Experiencing Record Low Unemployment?
President Donald Trump claimed that 10 states experienced all-time low unemployment rates in October.
“Last month alone, 10 states hit their lowest unemployment rates in the history of our country,” he said at a Nov. 26 rally in Tupelo, Mississippi.
Verdict: True
Ten states had record low unemployment rates in October, with some other states near record lows.
Fact Check:
The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases unemployment data on a monthly basis, and in its October release, the agency reported record low unemployment rates in the following states: Arkansas, California, Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, New York, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas and Washington. The agency has been tracking state unemployment rates since January 1976.
Record lows ranged from 2.4 to 4.3 percent in these states.
Moments earlier in his speech, Trump claimed that Mississippi also had record low unemployment. “Here in Mississippi, the unemployment rate has reached its all-time low – in history,” he said.
The unemployment rate in Mississippi did reach a record low in March – 4.5 percent – but has since climbed slightly to 4.7 percent. In total, 18 states have experienced record low unemployment in 2018, with eight states subsequently coming off those lows. Other states, like Pennsylvania and Alaska, have not set records this year, but are hovering around record low territory.
Hawaii has the lowest unemployment rate in the country at 2.3 percent, while Alaska has the highest at 6.4 percent. The national unemployment rate currently stands at 3.7 percent, the lowest rate in nearly 50 years.
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