Twenty-three states see unemployment rate rise in September

Jobless workers dealing with credit card debt consolidation or other forms of financial trouble likely didn’t find any answers for their problems on the job market in September as nearly half the states reported an increase in their unemployment rate over the course of the month, according to new figures released by the Labor Department on Wednesday.

Perhaps in fitting with the national unemployment rate’s 0.1 percentage point increase to 9.8 in September, 23 states and Washington D.C. reported that their over-the-month unemployment rate had increased as well. Eighteen states reported that their rate had declined throughout the month, while only eight states saw no change in their unemployment rate.

The Labor Department also found that nonfarm payroll had decreased in 43 states, significantly more than the amount that saw their unemployment increase. New York experienced the largest drop in employment, shedding 81,700 jobs.

Indiana was one of the few states that saw their nonfarm employment, leading the way with 4,400 employment additions. New Mexico saw the second most job additions at 3,700, but edged out Indiana for the highest rate of increase with a 0.5 percent jump.

The general rise in unemployment came despite a recent report from the Federal Reserve in which each district indicated that either "stabilization or modest improvements" in many sectors, including many positive reports regarding the real estate and manufacturing sectors.