In December 2023, the United States added 216,000 jobs prompting WalletHub to update its report on unemployment levels by state. The personal finance website compared unemployment rates in the 50 states and the District of Columbia using six key metrics, referring to December 2023 data as well as key data points from 2023, 2022, 2020, and 2019. Maryland experienced the most significant drop in unemployment, while states like New Jersey, California, D.C., Illinois, and Kentucky had the worst changes. Virginia ranked 16th in the nation. The Federal Reserve Board expects the unemployment rate to increase to 4.1 percent by the end of 2024, according to WalletHub Analyst Cassandra Happe. This predicted increase has led some companies to plan for hiring freezes and layoffs in response to rising payroll costs and a tightening job market. However, consumer confidence in employment stability increased by 7.1 percent. The technology of artificial intelligence is having both positive and negative impacts on job markets. It’s creating new opportunities in areas such as data analysis, machine learning, and programming, but it’s also causing job displacement due to automation. The most significant increase in unemployment from the previous month occurred in Massachusetts, with a rise of 11.7 percent, while the most significant decrease happened in Minnesota, with a fall of 5 percent.