Richard Lesko Staff reporter

March 10, 2010
RICHMOND—
The Virginia Employment Commission now reports the state's unemployment rate stands at 6.9%. That's based on figures from January. That rate is slightly up from the 6.8% reported for December.

The state is still in much worse shape than a year ago though. In January 2009, the unemployment rate was at 5.7%. The unemployment rate in Virginia has stayed relatively stable since April of last year.

Nationwide, the unemployment rate fell to 9.7%, down from 10% the previous month.

Here are the states with the highest and lowest jobless rates:

HIGHEST:

Michigan: 14.3 percent

Nevada: 13 percent

Rhode Island: 12.7 percent

South Carolina: 12.6 percent

California: 12.5 percent

LOWEST:

North Dakota: 4.2 percent

Nebraska: 4.6 percent

South Dakota: 4.8 percent

Kansas: 6.4 percent

Iowa: 6.6 percent

(The Associated Press contributed to this content)