The 2009 “underemployment rate” for Massachusetts, which includes those who have given up looking for work, and those working only part-time, was at 14.5 percent, according to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This was still somewhat below the national average of 16.2 percent, and it put us in a tie with Delaware for 26th place.
Michigan had the highest underemployment rate (21.5 percent), and Rhode Island came in sixth (19.1 percent). North Dakota had the lowest rate (8.0) percent, and Vermont was in 42nd place (11.8 percent), better than any other state in the Northeast.
The New York Times has a 50-state map of the underemployment rate here.