The Labor Department said Friday that unemployment rates fell in 11 states and Washington, D.C. — the fewest declines since August. Rates were unchanged in 12 states.

Nationwide, employers added only 80,000 jobs last month, third straight month of weak job growth. The national unemployment rate stayed at 8.2%.

Still, 29 states added jobs in June, up from 27 in May. Unemployment rates can rise when jobs are created because more people who are out of work start looking for jobs. That increases the size of the labor force. The number of Americans searching for jobs nationwide increased last month.

Nevada recorded the highest unemployment rate, at 11.6%, same as the previous month. It was followed by Rhode Island at 10.9% and California at 10.7%

North Dakota had the lowest unemployment rate at 2.9%, followed by Nebraska at 3.8%.

\”We have to address the situation in the marketplace,\” DeLauro said at a press conference on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. \”Right now, the least expensive beverages are often those with the least value to our health like regular cola or juice drinks that are only 10 percent juice.

\”But I will tell you that if you’re paying $3.49 for juice and 79 cents for soda, if you are in a low-income family and you have to stretch the dollar, you don’t need a rocket scientist to tell you what you’re going to buy,\” DeLauro said. \”You’re going to go for the 79 cents and maybe, quite frankly, one of the things that we ought to look at and one of the things we ought to consider is a soda tax.\”