Forty-two of the 50 U.S. states lost jobs in August, up from 29 states in July, with the biggest losses occurring in Texas, Michigan, Georgia, and Ohio, the government reported Friday. The Labor Department said 27 states saw their unemployment rates increase last month, and 14 states and the city of Washington reported unemployment rates of 10 percent or higher. Michigan, home to much of the troubled U.S. auto industry, has the highest unemployment rate of 15.2 percent, followed by Nevada, Rhode Island, and California, each of which saw their highest jobless rate on records dating to 1976. Nationally, the unemployment rate rose to 9.7 percent in August from 8.4 percent the previous month.
