Seriously, there is indeed evidence that union-heavy states do indeed have higher average wages (as we talked about earlier, depending on how you count). There seriously is
also evidence that the downside of that is higher unemployment, lower growth, and economic stagnation.
Funny you say that because that is not the case in my state of Massachusetts. Where is your evidence that union-heavy states have higher unemployment? I've looked at a site for the 2012 state unemployment rates by state, and I don't see what you claim as being the case at all.
State Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov
Alabama 7.8 7.6 7.3 7.2 7.4 7.8 8.3 8.5 8.3 8.1 7.5
Alaska 7.2 7.1 7.0 6.9 7.0 7.3 7.7 7.8 7.5 7.1 6.8
Arizona 8.7 8.7 8.6 8.2 8.2 8.2 8.3 8.3 8.2 8.1 7.8
Arkansas 7.6 7.6 7.4 7.2 7.3 7.2 7.3 7.3 7.1 7.2 7.0
California 10.9 10.9 11.0 10.9 10.8 10.7 10.7 10.6 10.2 10.1 9.8
Colorado 7.8 7.8 7.8 7.9 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.2 8.0 7.9 7.7
Connecticut 8.0 7.8 7.7 7.7 7.8 8.1 8.5 9.0 8.9 9.0 8.8
Delaware 7.0 7.0 6.9 6.8 6.8 6.7 6.8 6.9 6.8 6.8 6.7
D.C. 9.9 9.9 9.8 9.5 9.3 9.1 8.9 8.8 8.7 8.5 8.4
Florida 9.6 9.4 9.0 8.7 8.6 8.6 8.8 8.8 8.7 8.5 8.1
Georgia 9.2 9.1 9.0 8.9 8.9 9.0 9.3 9.2 9.0 8.7 8.5
Hawaii 6.5 6.4 6.4 6.3 6.3 6.4 6.4 6.1 5.7 5.5 5.3
Idaho 8.1 8.0 7.9 7.7 7.8 7.7 7.5 7.4 7.1 7.0 6.8
Illinois 9.4 9.1 8.8 8.7 8.6 8.7 8.9 9.1 8.8 8.8 8.7
Indiana 8.7 8.4 8.2 7.9 7.9 8.0 8.2 8.3 8.2 8.0 8.0
Iowa 5.4 5.3 5.2 5.1 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.5 5.2 5.1 4.9
Kansas 6.1 6.1 6.2 6.1 6.1 6.1 6.3 6.2 5.9 5.7 5.4
Kentucky 8.8 8.7 8.6 8.3 8.2 8.2 8.3 8.5 8.4 8.4 8.2
Louisiana 6.9 7.0 7.1 7.1 7.2 7.5 7.6 7.4 7.0 6.6 5.8
Maine 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.2 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.6 7.6 7.4 7.2
Maryland 6.5 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 6.9 7.0 7.1 6.9 6.7 6.6
Massachusetts 6.9 6.9 6.5 6.3 6.0 6.0 6.1 6.3 6.5 6.6 6.6
Michigan 9.0 8.8 8.5 8.3 8.5 8.6 9.0 9.4 9.3 9.1 8.9
Minnesota 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.6 5.6 5.6 5.8 5.9 5.8 5.8 5.7
Mississippi 9.9 9.5 9.0 8.7 8.7 8.8 9.1 9.1 9.2 8.9 8.5
Missouri 7.5 7.4 7.4 7.3 7.3 7.1 7.2 7.2 6.9 6.9 6.7
Montana 6.5 6.2 6.2 6.1 6.3 6.3 6.4 6.3 6.1 6.0 5.8
Nebraska 4.0 4.0 4.0 3.9 3.9 3.8 4.0 4.0 3.9 3.8 3.7
Nevada 12.7 12.3 12.0 11.7 11.6 11.6 12.0 12.1 11.8 11.5 10.8
New Hampshire 5.2 5.2 5.2 5.0 5.0 5.1 5.4 5.7 5.7 5.7 5.6
New Jersey 9.0 9.0 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.6 9.8 9.9 9.8 9.7 9.6
New Mexico 7.0 7.2 7.2 6.9 6.7 6.5 6.6 6.5 6.4 6.3 6.2
New York 8.3 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.6 8.9 9.1 9.1 8.9 8.7 8.3
North Carolina 10.2 9.9 9.7 9.4 9.4 9.4 9.6 9.7 9.6 9.3 9.1
North Dakota 3.2 3.1 3.0 3.0 3.0 2.9 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.1 3.1
Ohio 7.7 7.6 7.5 7.4 7.3 7.2 7.2 7.2 7.0 6.9 6.8
Oklahoma 6.1 6.0 5.4 5.0 4.8 4.7 4.9 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.2
Oregon 8.8 8.8 8.6 8.5 8.4 8.5 8.7 8.9 8.7 8.6 8.4
Pennsylvania 7.6 7.6 7.5 7.4 7.4 7.5 7.9 8.1 8.2 8.1 7.8
Puerto Rico 15.1 15.0 15.0 14.8 14.2 13.8 13.7 13.5 13.6 13.8 13.8
Rhode Island 10.9 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.0 10.9 10.8 10.7 10.5 10.4 10.4
South Carolina 9.3 9.1 8.9 8.8 9.1 9.4 9.6 9.6 9.1 8.6 8.3
South Dakota 4.2 4.3 4.3 4.3 4.3 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.4 4.5 4.4
Tennessee 8.2 8.0 7.9 7.8 7.9 8.1 8.4 8.5 8.3 8.2 7.6
Texas 7.3 7.1 7.0 6.9 6.9 7.0 7.2 7.1 6.8 6.6 6.2
Utah 5.7 5.7 5.8 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 5.8 5.4 5.2 5.1
Vermont 5.0 4.9 4.8 4.6 4.6 4.7 5.0 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.2
Virginia 5.8 5.7 5.6 5.6 5.6 5.7 5.9 5.9 5.9 5.7 5.6
Washington 8.3 8.2 8.3 8.1 8.3 8.3 8.5 8.6 8.5 8.2 7.8
West Virginia 7.4 7.2 6.9 6.7 6.9 7.0 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.5 7.3
Wisconsin 6.9 6.9 6.8 6.7 6.8 7.0 7.3 7.5 7.3 6.9 6.7
Wyoming 5.5 5.4 5.3 5.3 5.2 5.4 5.6 5.7 5.4 5.2 5.1
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics