Unemployment rates fell in 24 states in January and rose in just eight, the U.S. government said Tuesday, providing the latest evidence that hiring is strong across the country. The Labor Department reported that jobless rates were unchanged in 18 states and in Washington, D.C. North Dakota has the country's lowest jobless rate of 2.8 percent, a sign that falling oil prices had yet to cause major layoffs in a state that has benefited from an energy boom. Mississippi and Nevada had the highest unemployment rates at 7.1 percent. Nationwide, employers have added 3.3 million jobs over the past year. Unemployment across the country dropped to 5.5 percent in February from 6.7 percent a year earlier.
