Four U.S. states—California, Michigan, South Caroline, and Rhode Island—registered unemployment rates above 10 percent in January, and the national jobless rate is expected to hit 10 percent by the end of the year. The Labor Department's report Wednesday on state unemployment showed the increasing damages on workers and companies from the recession, now in its second year. Some economists expect the national unemployment rate to peak at 11 percent or higher by the middle of 2010. In December, only Michigan had a jobless rate above 10 percent. One month later, three more states did. California's unemployment rate jumped to 10.1 percent in January from 8.7 percent the previous month, as jobs disappeared in the construction, finance, and retail industries. Michigan's unemployment rate increased to 11.6 percent in January, the highest in the country, as the state saw massive layoffs in the auto industry and manufacturing. The second-highest unemployment rate was South Carolina at 10.4 percent. Forty-nine of the 50 states plus the city of Washington registered unemployment-rate increases in January. Louisiana was the only state whose rate declined.
