Two links to pass along relating to jobs and unemployment:
First, the Labor Department released the latest state-by-state unemployment rates, and 31 states added jobs in January. The biggest percentage decline in the jobless rate came in Michigan, which went from 14.5% to 14.3% — still the highest in the country, however, by 1.3% over Nevada.
Meanwhile, Mississippi had the biggest jump in percentage, from 10.5% to 10.9%.
Click here to see a neat WSJ graphic.
Second, Casey Mulligan from the University of Chicago looks at the effect of the federal minimum wage increase on part-time jobs. Mulligan’s conclusion:
With all of this recession’s significant labor market problems, and the expensive federal efforts to offset them, it’s too bad that the minimum-wage law added so many people to the list of those who today cannot find jobs.
