NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- State unemployment continued to ease in June, with more than half of all U.S. states posting jobless rate declines for a third straight month, a government report Tuesday showed.
Nevada remained the state with the highest level of unemployment, a distinction it took from Michigan last month for the first time in four years. The Silver State posted a record high jobless rate of 14.2% in June.
A total of 39 states and the District of Columbia posted unemployment rate decreases in June, according to the Labor Department's monthly report on state employment. Jobless rates rose in five states and remained unchanged in six states.
In May, 37 states and D.C. saw rates decline, six states suffered rate hikes and seven states reported no change.
Compared with the same period a year earlier, June's state unemployment picture was not as bright. Twenty-four states said jobless rates rose from a year ago, while only 22 said rates declined.
In its closely watched, national employment report issued earlier this month, the Labor Department said the economy lost 125,000 jobs in June, due to a drop in Census jobs that had boosted payrolls in May. Meanwhile, the national unemployment rate eased to 9.5% from 9.7% in May.
According to Tuesday's report, 25 states posted levels of unemployment lower than the national jobless rate, while 10 states reported higher rates. 
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