28 States with Improving Unemployment Rates

A good job can be hard to find these days -- but it could be easier, depending on where you live.

Regional and state unemployment rates were basically the same for July as for June, with 18 states showing no change at all, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The national average unemployment rate was initially given as 9.5 percent with 131,000 jobs lost. The BLS revised their numbers to reflect only 54,000 jobs were lost in July, which suggests workers had a better month than expected.

Although 18 states and Washington D.C. reported unemployment decreases, you need more than a month-over-month comparison to see how a state is handling the recession.

In order to give you an idea of which states are showing promising employment trends, we compared the unemployment rate from July 2009 to July 2010 to find the ones with decreases. Although no state has been exempt from the rough economy and all 50 are looking for a brighter future, these figures show where some positive change is happening.

Here are 28 states that have seen their unemployment rates decrease in a 12-month span:

Alabama
2009 unemployment rate: 10.5 percent
2010 unemployment rate: 9.7 percent

Alaska
2009 unemployment rate: 8.1 percent
2010 unemployment rate: 7.7 percent

Colorado
2009 unemployment rate: 8.1 percent
2010 unemployment rate:  8.0 percent

Hawaii
2009 unemployment rate: 7.0  percent
2010 unemployment rate: 6.3 percent

Illinois
2009 unemployment rate: 10.5 percent
2010 unemployment rate:  10.3 percent

Indiana
2009 unemployment rate: 10.4 percent
2010 unemployment rate: 10.2 percent

Iowa
2009 unemployment rate: 6.1 percent
2010 unemployment rate: 6.8 percent

Kansas
2009 unemployment rate: 7.2 percent
2010 unemployment rate:  6.5 percent

Kentucky
2009 unemployment rate: 10.8 percent
2010 unemployment rate: 9.9 percent

Maine
2009 unemployment rate: 8.2 percent
2010 unemployment rate:  8.1 percent

Maryland
2009 unemployment rate: 7.2 percent
2010 unemployment rate: 7.1 percent

Michigan
2009 unemployment rate: 14.2 percent
2010 unemployment rate:  13.1 percent

Minnesota
2009 unemployment rate: 8.3 percent
2010 unemployment rate: 6.8 percent

Missouri
2009 unemployment rate: 9.7 percent
2010 unemployment rate: 9.2 percent

Nebraska
2009 unemployment rate: 4.8 percent
2010 unemployment rate: 4.7 percent

New Hampshire
2009 unemployment rate: 6.6 percent
2010 unemployment rate:  5.8 percent

New York
2009 unemployment rate: 8.7 percent
2010 unemployment rate:  8.2 percent

North Carolina
2009 unemployment rate: 11.0 percent
2010 unemployment rate:  9.8 percent

North Dakota
2009 unemployment rate: 4.4 percent
2010 unemployment rate: 3.6 percent

Ohio
2009 unemployment rate: 10.6 percent
2010 unemployment rate: 10.3 percent

Oregon
2009 unemployment rate: 11.4 percent
2010 unemployment rate: 10.6 percent

South Carolina
2009 unemployment rate: 12.0 percent
2010 unemployment rate: 10.8 percent

South Dakota
2009 unemployment rate: 4.9 percent
2010 unemployment rate: 4.4 percent

Tennessee
2009 unemployment rate: 10.9 percent
2010 unemployment rate:  9.8 percent

Vermont
2009 unemployment rate: 7.1 percent
2010 unemployment rate: 6.0 percent

Washington
2009 unemployment rate: 9.2 percent
2010 unemployment rate: 8.9 percent

Wisconsin
2009 unemployment rate: 8.9 percent
2010 unemployment rate: 7.8 percent

Wyoming
2009 unemployment rate: 6.8 percent
2010 unemployment rate: 6.7percent

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*July employment numbers are preliminary recordings and are subject to change.