Statewide unemployment rates and analysis are most common, but economic realities can vary greatly within any state. County-level comparisons show the localized challenges people face.
Only one measure of unemployment is available for counties: U-3, which estimates the rate of jobless people who are available to work and have looked in most recent four weeks.
The following map shows county unemployment rates over time as annual averages, along with the corresponding size of each county’s labor force.
The pool of potential workers from which the unemployment rate is calculated is called the labor force. If folks can’t find a job, but they’re ready and willing to work and are actively looking, they’re considered to be in the labor force. Those who haven’t looked in a year are considered to have dropped out of the job market.
Low unemployment rates are generally good, but can be deceiving. If they drop along with the size of the labor force, it could be caused by discouraged workers giving up on their job searches.
