States with Lowest Unemployment Rate: North Dakota Still Leading in Latest Update

South Dakota has a 4.6 percent unemployment rate while Nebraska has a 4.9 percent unemployment rate.

Other states with the lowest unemployment rates for May 2010:

New Hampshire 6.4%

Kansas 6.5%

Hawaii 6.6%

Oklahoma 6.7%

Iowa 6.8%

Louisiana 6.9%

Minnesota 7%

Wyoming 7%

Read this article that I wrote in September 2009 when North Dakota led the nation with an unemployment rate of 4.2 percent.

Both North Dakota and South Dakota have had their unemployment rates dip while Nebraska has remained the same in a period of just over 8 months.

An indicator of economic stability in North Dakota is the lead it has in new home construction from 2008 to 2009. It led the nation with a 12.8 percent gain in that period. North Dakota State Demographer Richard Rathge says the state has a budget surplus and financial institutions have continued a practice of conservative lending.

Sandy McMerty of the state's commerce department told me some news behind the numbers: "We have an additional 3,000 more jobs in the labor pool than we did a year ago," she said.

In another change, Nevada with a 14 percent unemployment rate now replaces Michigan that held the nation's highest unemployment rate at 13.6 percent. Michigan's rate in my September 2009 article stood at 15 percent.

Las Vegas recorded the largest unemployment rate increase in a one-year period.

El Centro, California has the largest unemployment rate for a city in the nation at 27.9 percent while Yuma, Arizona follows at 24.4 percent.

There are 14 metro areas in the nation with unemployment rates standing at 15 percent or above. Cities in California account for 11 of those 14.

For jobs in North Dakota, log on to experience.nd.gov.

Visit http://www.bls.gov/lau for complete unemployment numbers.