US Unemployment Rate Expected To Stay The Same At 7.5%

The overall euro zone unemployment hit a record high 12.2 percent in April. In comparison, the outlook for the American labor force is much better. The U.S. unemployment rate for the month of May, which will be released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics at 8 a.m. Friday, is expected to remain unchanged from April -- 7.5 percent.

So far in 2013, the overall U.S. unemployment rate has fallen 0.4 percentage points, from 7.9 percent in January 2013, to 7.5 percent in April.

Check out this map of unemployment rates across the world. This map includes countries that reported an unemployment rate in the past 12 months.

The bluer end of the spectrum indicates a lower unemployment rate, red indicates a higher unemployment rate, and black represents the higher extreme of unemployment. Hover over any country to see its latest reported unemployment rate:

In April the overall U.S unemployment rate fell by 0.1 percentage point, but some states fared better than others.

California, which has one of the highest unemployment rates within the U.S., saw a 0.4 percentage point drop in unemployment--from 9.4 percent in March to 9 percent in April.

Tennessee, Louisiana and North Dakota were the only states to experience a rise in unemployment rate in April. In Tennessee, which had an already higher-than-average unemployment rate of 7.8 percent in March, the number rose to 8 percent.

Despite a slight increase from March to April, North Dakota remains the state with the lowest unemployment rate: 3.3 percent.

Check out this map of the unemployment rates in each U.S. state. A darker shade of red indicated higher unemployment, a lighter shade indicates a lower unemployment rate.