unemployment rates

Headline (from the Bureau of Labor Statistics):

All 9 States With Lowest Unemployment Rates in 2022 Had Republican Governors; All 10 With Highest Had Democrats

(CNSNews.com) - All nine states with the lowest annual average unemployment rates for 2022 had Republican governors during that year, while all ten states with the highest annual average unemployment rates had Democratic governors.

The Bureau Labor Statistics on Wednesday published the annual average unemployment rates for all fifty states.

The nine states with the lowest unemployment rates in 2022 were: South Dakota (2.1 percent unemployment rate), whose governor was Republican Kristi Noem; North Dakota (2.1 percent), whose governor was Republican Doug Burgum; Nebraska (2.3 percent), whose governor was Republican Pete Ricketts; Utah (2.3 percent), whose governor was Republican Spencer Cox; Missouri (2.5 percent), whose governor was Republican Mike Parson; New Hampshire (2.5 percent), whose governor was Republican Chris Sununu; Alabama (2.6 percent), whose governor was Republican Kay Ivey; Montana (2.6 percent) whose governor was Republican Greg Gianforte; and Vermont (2.6 percent), whose governor was Republican Phil Scott.

The ten states with the highest unemployment rates in 2022 were: Nevada (5.4 percent), whose governor was Democrat Steve Sisolak; Illinois (4.6 percent), whose governor was Democrat J.B. Pritzker; Delaware (4.5 percent) whose governor was Democrat John Carney; Pennsylvania (4.4. percent), whose governor was Democrat Tom Wolf; New York (4.3 percent), whose governor was Kathy Hochul; Washington (4.2 percent), whose governor was Democrat Jay Inslee; Oregon (4.2 percent), whose governor was Democrat Kate Brown; Michigan (4.2 percent), whose governor was Democrat Gretchen Whitmer; Connecticut (4.2 percent), whose governor was Democrat Ned Lamont; and California (4.2 percent), whose governor was Democrat Gavin Newsom.

If you click the link and read the article, you'll see a chart. Assuming something like a bell-curve distribution, the middle of the chart—the fat part of the bell curve—shows a mix of Democrat- and Republican-run states (red-state Texas ranks #36, which could have something to do with illegals). Still, even with that mix, the bell curve speaks for itself: the high end is occupied by one party, and the low end is occupied by the other.

The chart actually shows 11 states that are both (1) sitting at the top with the lowest average unemployment and (2) boasting Republican governors in 2022.