10:22 AM EST, 12/11/2025 (MT Newswires) -- State-level data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Thursday showed the unemployment rate rose in eight states in September, fell in two and held steady elsewhere.

The largest unemployment rate declines were in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and West Virginia, where it dipped by 0.2 percentage point, and fell by 0.1 percentage point in Florida, Montana and Pennsylvania.

South Dakota had the lowest rate at 2% while the District of Columbia had the highest at 6.2%.

The national unemployment rate was reported at 4.4% in September, up from 4.3% in August.

Nonfarm payrolls rose in Missouri and fell in New York and was essentially unchanged elsewhere. Nationwide nonfarm payrolls increased by 119,000 in September after a 4,000 decline in August.