33 states saw jobs rise in March, 17 had losses

Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania recorded sizable gains in employment in March and were among 33 states posting increases.

In its monthly look at state job trends, the Labor Department said Friday that Maryland led the country with a gain of 35,800 payroll jobs last month. Virginia and Pennsylvania also posted increases that topped 20,000 in the month.

By contrast, Michigan continued to have the nation's highest unemployment rate at 14.1 percent, and also led the country in job losses in March with a decline of 9,500. Nevada and Florida also posted sizable job losses and were among 17states recording job losses during the month.

Nationally, the unemployment remained unchanged at 9.7 percent in March while payrolls grew by 162,000, the biggest gain in three years.

The department's report Friday showed how the job gains and losses were distributed among the states.

The increases in nonfarm payroll employment occurred in 33 states and the District of Colombia. In February, only 23 states had seen job gains while 27 states and the District of Columbia had recorded job losses.

While Michigan once again led the country with the highest unemployment rate at 14.1 percent, that was unchanged from February. Following Michigan, the states with the highest unemployment rates were Nevada, 13.4 percent; California and Rhode Island, both at 12.6 percent; Florida, 12.3 percent, and South Carolina, 12.2 percent.

The jobless rates for California, Florida and Nevada set new highs for the current slump as did the jobless rate in Georgia, which climbed to 10.6 percent.

North Dakota continued to have the lowest jobless rate at 4 percent followed by South Dakota at 4.8 percent and Nebraska at 5 percent.