Today, the Labor Department reportedthat the unemployment rate tracked up in 26 states and the District of Columbia between July and August. Maryland and Florida saw statistically significant increases of 0.2 percent, with slight changes in 25 other states. For the fourth month in a row, Nevada remained the state with the worst unemployment rate — 14.4 percent, the highest level since the government started keeping state unemployment records. North Carolina created the most jobs, 18,600, and Michigan lost the most, 50,300. Over the course of the past year, Alabama, Tennessee, and North Carolina have seen the best improvements in their unemployment rates, which dropped between 1.2 and 1.4 percentage points.
In short: more evidence of a slow recovery.