WASHINGTON — All but six states lost jobs in April, and double-digit unemployment persisted in every corner of the country as companies squeezed by the recession slashed payrolls.
For the fifth straight month, California led the nation in net job losses, with 63,700 jobs disappearing in April. Among the handful of winners were Arkansas, Montana and Florida — a state battered by the housing collapse and badly in need of good news.
Michigan, the heart of the teetering American auto industry, posted the highest unemployment rate in the nation, 12.9 percent, the Labor Department said Friday. Oregon came in at 12 percent, South Carolina at 11.5 percent and Rhode Island at 11.1 percent.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has said he expects the economy to begin growing again later this year, but the recovery is expected to be slow, with companies in no rush to hire. The Fed projects unemployment will stay high well into 2011.
After California, Texas cut the second-most jobs of any state, with 39,500. Michigan lost 38,400 and Ohio, 25,200.
North Dakota again registered the nation’s lowest unemployment rate: 4 percent. It was followed by Nebraska’s 4.4 percent jobless rate, Wyoming’s 4.5 percent and South Dakota’s 4.8 percent. Ken Mayland, an economist at ClearView Economics, said he thinks those states are benefiting from growth in agriculture-related businesses.
