Georgia, with a 7.2 percent unemployment rate, lost its dubious distinction last month as the state with the nation’s highest jobless rate. That questionable honor now belongs to Mississippi coming in with a 7.3 percent rate, according to statistics released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Georgia shares the second-worst spot with California, also notching a 7.2 percent rate.

It could be worse: the District of Columbia, with a 7.4 percent rate, takes the overall top spot nationwide, the BLS says.

Georgia led the nation with the worst unemployment rate from August to October.

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Bartender Victoria Kuchenoff laughs with a regular customer, Britt Thomason, at Walk On’s Sports Bistreaux at The Battery in Atlanta on Friday, July 11, 2025. (Abbey Cutrer/AJC)

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Rebecca Ramage-Tuttle, assistant director of the Statewide Independent Living Council of Georgia, says the the DOE rule change is “a slippery slope” for civil rights. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)

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