This article investigates the effects of national and state-level political variables on state unemployment and unemployment growth rates while controlling for the national economy and predictors drawn from cross-national research and state unemployment studies. The findings indicate that state unemployment and unemployment growth rates (1) decrease as the number of four-year colleges increases and (2) increase as savings deposits and national unemployment increase. Reductions in unemployment growth are also associated with politically unified governments, and, overall, the national economy and national political variables explain the majority of variance in unemployment and unemployment growth in the states.