LANSING – Michigan may have the nation’s highest unemployment rate and has been mired in a recession for eight years, but at least it isn’t Nevada, or Florida, or Oregon. Those three states ranked one, two and three in terms of total economic stress by the Kaiser Family Foundation statehealthfacts.org, while Michigan was ranked 10th overall in economic stress.
North Dakota was ranked as the least economically stressful state at 51st (the District of Columbia was included in the ranking).
The rankings were based on three factors: home foreclosures, unemployment levels and increases in the number of food stamps cases. Michigan topped the rankings in terms of unemployment (at 15.2 percent in June the state had the highest unemployment level of any state) but ranked 7th overall in foreclosures (with one house in every 333 facing foreclosure) and 34th in terms of the increase in food stamp usage.
Nevada ranked first in foreclosures, with one house in every 59 facing foreclosure, first in the growth in food stamp usage and tied for third in the increase in unemployment.
Florida (where it was announced this week its population fell in 2008 for the first year since the end of World War II) ranked 4th in foreclosures, 5th in food stamp growth and tied for 11th in unemployment growth.
Oregon ranked 2nd in unemployment growth, 14th in foreclosures and 13th in terms of food stamp growth.
Rounding out the top 10 in economic distress was Idaho at 4th, California and Georgia tied for 5th, Washington at 7th, Wyoming at 8th and Arizona at 9th. Ohio followed Michigan at 11th in the rankings.
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