State Unemployment Rates

States with the lowest unemployment rates tend to be Republican states. The following is a ranking of states by unemployment rate, current as of December 2014, their Democratic advantage according to Gallup, Representatives/Senators in Congress by party, party breakdown in the state legislature, and how they voted in the 2012 presidential election. Ultimately 14 of the 20 states with lowest unemployment rates had Republican advantages according to Gallup polling.

List of States by Unemployment Rate

Determination of whether a state is Republican or Democrat is based solely on the Gallup data (Democrat Advantage); the state's ratios for Congress, the state legislature, and 2012 presidential election results are merely provided for informational purposes. For example, Colorado, New Hampshire, Iowa, and Virginia all voted for Obama in 2012 but Gallup polling reveals they are primarily Republican, and thus they are labeled Republican here, particularly since their legislative elections reveal them to be Republican. On the other hand Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin have elected more Republicans at both the state and federal levels than Democrats, but are labeled as Democrat states because Gallup polling shows they have Democrat Advantages. States which could be classified as definite swing states include Colorado, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

RANK	STATE	RATE	PARTY	DEM. ADV.	CONGRESS	STATE LEG.	ROMNEY VOTE	OBAMA VOTE
1	North Dakota	2.8%	Republican	-25%	2/3 R	104/143 R	59%	39%
2	Nebraska	2.9%	Republican	-16%	4/5 R	NP	61%	38%
3	South Dakota	3.3%	Republican	-17%	3/3 R	84/103 R	58%	40%
4	Utah	3.5%	Republican	-32%	6/6 R	85/104 R	73%	25%
5	Minnesota	3.6%	Democrat	6%	7/10 D	101/201 D	45%	53%
6	Idaho	3.7%	Republican	-24%	4/4 R	84/105 R	65%	33%
7T	Hawaii	4.0%	Democrat	24%	4/4 D	67/76 D	28%	71%
7T	Colorado	4.0%	Republican	-4%	5/9 R	50/100 R	47%	51%
7T	New Hampshire	4.0%	Republican	-4%	2/4 R	253/424 R	46%	52%
10	Iowa	4.1%	Republican	-2%	5/6 R	80/149 R	46%	52%
11T	Kansas	4.2%	Republican	-21%	6/6 R	130/165 R	60%	38%
11T	Montana	4.2%	Republican	-13%	1/2 R	88/150 R	55%	42%
11T	Vermont	4.2%	Democrat	19%	3/3 D	118/180 D	31%	67%
11T	Oklahoma	4.2%	Republican	-13%	7/7 R	112/149 R	67%	33%
11T	Wyoming	4.2%	Republican	-40%	3/3 R	77/90 R	69%	28%
16	Texas	4.6%	Republican	-4%	27/38 R	118/181 R	57%	41%
17T	Ohio	4.8%	Democrat	0%	13/18 R	83/132 R	48%	50%
17T	Virginia	4.8%	Republican	-1%	8/13 R	89/140 R	48%	51%
17T	Pennsylvania	4.8%	Democrat	3%	14/20 R	149/253 R	47%	52%
20	Wisconsin	5.2%	Democrat	1%	6/10 R	80/130 R	46%	53%
21T	Delaware	5.4%	Democrat	17%	3/3 D	37/62 D	40%	59%
21T	Missouri	5.4%	Republican	-3%	7/10 R	142/196 R	54%	44%
23T	Maine	5.5%	Democrat	6%	2/4 D	98/186 D	41%	56%
23T	Maryland	5.5%	Democrat	20%	9/10 D	123/188 D	37%	62%
23T	Massachusetts	5.5%	Democrat	21%	11/11 D	159/200 D	38%	61%
23T	North Carolina	5.5%	Republican	-1%	12/15 R	109/170 R	51%	48%
27	Florida	5.6%	Democrat	5%	18/29 R	103/155 R	49%	50%
28T	Alabama	5.7%	Republican	-11%	8/9 R	98/129 R	61%	38%
28T	Arkansas	5.7%	Republican	-4%	6/6 R	87/134 R	61%	37%
28T	Kentucky	5.7%	Democrat	2%	7/8 R	72/135	61%	38%
31T	Indiana	5.8%	Republican	-4%	8/11 R	111/150	54%	44%
31T	New York	5.8%	Democrat	25%	20/28 D	137/213	36%	63%
33	West Virginia	6.0%	Democrat	1%	4/5 R	82/134	62%	36%
34	New Mexico	6.1%	Democrat	11%	4/5 D	58/112 D	43%	53%
35T	Illinois	6.2%	Democrat	17%	11/20 D	110/177 D	41%	57%
35T	New Jersey	6.2%	Democrat	16%	8/14 D	72/120	41%	58%
37T	Alaska	6.3%	Republican	-20%	3/3 R	37/60	55%	41%
37T	Michigan	6.3%	Democrat	9%	9/16 R	90/148 R	45%	54%
37T	Washington	6.3%	Democrat	7%	8/12 D	75/147 D	42%	56%
40	Connecticut	6.4%	Democrat	16%	7/7 D	108/187 D	40%	58%
41	South Carolina	6.5%	Republican	-10%	8/9 R	103/167 R	55%	44%
42	Tennessee	6.6%	Republican	-7%	9/11 R	100/132 R	59%	39%
43T	Arizona	6.7%	Republican	-1%	7/11 R	53/90 R	54%	44%
43T	Louisiana	6.7%	Republican	-2%	7/8 R	85/144	58%	41%
43T	Oregon	6.7%	Democrat	7%	6/7 D	53/90 D	43%	54%
46T	Nevada	6.8%	Democrat	3%	4/6 R	38/63 R	46%	52%
46T	Rhode Island	6.8%	Democrat	23%	4/4 D	97/113 D	36%	63%
48	Georgia	6.9%	Republican	-3%	12/16 R	155/234 R	53%	45%
49	California	7.0%	Democrat	18%	41/55 D	78/120 D	38%	59%
50	Mississippi	7.2%	Republican	-6%	5/6 R	98/174 R	56%	44%

Notes

• Nebraska's state legislature is Nonpartisan/Unicameral and thus party breakdown cannot be provided, this is indicated by a value of "NP."
• Since Independents overwhelmingly caucus as Democrats, they were classified as Democrats when counting Congress/State Legislature ratios. The only state really affected by this was Vermont which had 11 Independents at the state level and 1 at the federal level.
• A "T" at the end of a rank indicates a tie between states for that rank.

Analysis

Gallup polling generally lines up with how states voted for president in 2012. While states have increasingly become more Republican since 2012, the Gallup polling largely represents the ideology which has governed state employment in recent years, and a state's identity is generally clear. There are two states which should arguably be identified as Republican despite Gallup polling indicating they are narrowly Democrat, Kentucky and West Virginia. According to Gallup they narrowly polled Democrat, with 2% and 1% Democrat advantages respectively, yet both have elected more Republicans to both the state and federal legislature, and voted for Romney in 2012.