How states fared on unemployment aid applications

The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits fell last week, but the level of applications remains too high to signal a pickup in hiring.

Here are the states with the biggest increases and decreases in weekly unemployment applications. The state data are for the week ended June 16, one week behind the national data.

States with the biggest decreases:

California: Down 8,106, due to fewer layoffs in the service and retail industries

New York: Down 3,018, due to fewer layoffs in manufacturing, construction and food services

Georgia: Down 2,160, due to fewer layoffs in the manufacturing, healthcare and construction industries

Illinois: Down 1,996, due to fewer layoffs in construction, administrative support services, and trade industries

Missouri: Down 1,339, due to fewer layoffs in manufacturing, construction, and transportation and warehousing

Arizona: Down 1,211, no reason given

Virginia: Down 1,117, due to fewer layoffs in manufacturing

States with the biggest increases:

Pennsylvania: Up 4,656, due to layoffs in the transportation, entertainment, lodging, food services and health care industries

New Jersey: Up 3,907, due to layoffs in educational services, transportation and warehousing, and hotels and food services

Maryland: Up 2,624, due to a mass layoff at a steel factory

Florida: Up 2,528, due to layoffs in manufacturing, agriculture, retail and services

Wisconsin: Up 1,128, no reason given