The Bureau of Labor Statistics has released the January 2013 unemployment numbers for the states, and it makes for some interesting reading.

Observations: California has the nation’s highest unemployment rate, 9.8%, tied with Rhode Island. Nevada at 9.7% is just behind. These are pretty terrible numbers. Note that the Illinois legislature increased the state’s income tax rate from 3% to 5% in spring 2011 and California voters, persuaded by Governor Jerry Brown, with a drive to register young Latinos, raised the top rate to 13.3% in November 2013. Were those policies ill-advised? Have they had a negative effect on job creation? The high unemployment numbers suggest the answer is yes.