State jobless rates remain stable in June as men’s World Cup helps in some areas
State unemployment rates in June were little changed in a month in which some hoped for a boost from World Cup-related tourism and socializing. That failed to materialize nationally, but some states saw a positive effect from fans.
Texas saw a bump in jobs after hosting matches in Houston, white New York and New Jersey saw jumps in hotel revenue and more spending in bars and restaurants, according to a statement this week from New York’s Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul.
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In Washington, Seattle bars and restaurants got more business from soccer and basketball fans in June as private jobs helped make up for thousands of lost government jobs, said Anneliese Vance-Sherman, the state’s chief labor economist, in a news conference last week. She called it “an encouraging start to the summer.”
June unemployment ranged from around 2% in North Dakota and South Dakota to 5% or more in California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia (the highest rate at 6%), Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report released Tuesday.
The rates were little changed from May, with Minnesota and New Hampshire the only states besides Texas to see significant job growth for the month. Texas gained 10,300 hospitality jobs, about a quarter of its monthly gain.
States with the largest unemployment rate changes in the past year since June 2025: Connecticut (up 1.3 points) and Oklahoma (up 1 point to 4.2%), Ohio (down 1 point to 3.6%) and Ohio (down 0.9 point to 3.6%)
States adding jobs at the highest rates since last year: Nevada, up 2.3% or 36,700 jobs, Minnesota (1.5% or 45,900 jobs), North Carolina (1.2% or 62,900 jobs) and Texas (1.2% or 177,900 jobs). Nevada gained jobs in business services, construction and hospitality.
Jobs decreased over the year in the District of Columbia (down 4.8% or 36,100 jobs) and Virginia (1% or 43,600 jobs). Both lost jobs in government and business services.
Virginia is projected to lose 17,800 jobs this year in a “shift from stagnation to mild contraction,” according to a May report from the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia, blaming the change on a national trend toward “weak hiring” that particularly affects the state’s ability to offset government job losses and attract young people.
“The key labor market issue is not a wave of layoffs but weak hiring. This distinction matters for Virginia,” the report concluded. “A weak hiring environment slows the ability of younger people, recent graduates and displaced workers to find new positions.”
