(Business First of Buffalo) -- New figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show Florida as the state with the second-worst employment decline. A total of 360,400 jobs vanished from Florida between September 2008 and the same month this year.

Other states with year-to-year losses in excess of 250,000 jobs were Michigan (308,800), Illinois (306,900), Texas (303,700), Ohio (258,100) and New York (256,100).

All 50 states and the District of Columbia had fewer jobs last month than a year earlier. The smallest drops in raw numbers occurred in North Dakota, which lost 900 jobs in 12 months, and Alaska, which lost 1,500.

The same two states also registered the smallest declines in percentage terms, with North Dakota's job base shrinking by 0.2 percent and Alaska's by 0.5 percent.

Arizona and Michigan tied for the worst percentage drops over 12 months, 7.5 percent in each state. Next were Nevada and Oregon with declines of 6.1 percent.

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