In March, the U.S. economy created an astounding 916,000 new jobs on net, according to the latest report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This stunning number, combined with a national unemployment rate of just 6%, indicates a continuation of the rapid recovery from the coronavirus pandemic that began last fall.

The Labor Department’s state data, released late last month, shows that the recovery has not been even. The unemployment rates in California, Hawaii, New York, and Connecticut are all above 8%, even as the rates in Utah, Nebraska, Idaho, and a number of other red states are below 4%. The rate in South Dakota, where the coronavirus policy has been criticized for its supposed laxity, is just 2.9%.

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