According to the BLS press release:
Regional and state unemployment rates were little changed in April. Thirty-seven states and the District of Columbia recorded unemployment rate decreases, five states posted rate increases, and eight states had no change, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Forty-eight states and the District of Columbia registered unemployment rate decreases from a year earlier, while only one state experienced an increase and one had no change. The national jobless rate was little changed from March at 8.1 percent but was 0.9 percentage point lower than in April 2011.Colorado was not among the 31 states that reported statistically significant changes in the unemployment rate, year over year. 17 states reported unemployment rates that were higher than Colorado's, including California, Nevada, Florida and Michigan. During March 2012, 19 states had reported unemployment rates higher than that of Colorado's.
Colorado's unemployment rate remains below that of the nation overall, continuing a trend that has been in place since 2005.
The graph shows a comparison between the two rates since 2006:
The unemployment rate in Colorado, seasonally adjusted, fell to 7.9 percent during April and had been flat at 7.8 percent for January, February and March of this year. The national rate fell to 8.1 percent from March's rate of 8.2 percent.
The BLS map below shows state-by-state comparisons.
Within the Rocky Mountain region, Colorado has the second-highest unemployment rate:
Arizona, 8.2%
Colorado, 7.9%
Idaho, 7.7%
Montana, 6.1%
New Mexico, 6.9%
Utah, 6.0%
Wyoming, 5.3%
Colorado remains in the middle of the pack when it comes to statewide unemployment rates, but has seen its rate rise above more states in recent months. At the regional level, however, Colorado contains some metro areas that have unemployment rate well below the national rate, such as the Boulder area and the Fort Collins area.
