PORTLAND, Ore. -- Unemployment continued to increase across the nation in March according to statistics released Friday by the U.S. Labor Department, and Oregon moved up one rank, reporting the second-highest jobless rate in the U.S.

Oregon’s 12.1 percent unemployment rate was only slightly better than that of Michigan, which reported a 12.6 percent rate. South Carolina was third with an 11.4 percent jobless rate; California fourth with 11.2 percent of the population unemployed and North Carolina fifth, with a rate of 10.8 percent.

 More: U.S. Labor Dept. unemployment summary (PDF)

Jobless ranks swelled in 46 states, with only North Dakota and Washington, D.C. registering unemployment rate decreases in March. However, the Labor Department report noted that unemployment was up in all 50 states over the year.

The national unemployment rate rose from 8.1 percent in February to 8.5 percent in March, which was 3.4 percentage points higher than a year ago.

West Coast states were the hardest hit with the region’s unemployment rate leading the nation at 9.8 percent. The Midwest had the second highest regional unemployment data, at 9 percent.

The unemployment rates for California and North Carolina were the highest for those states since modern record-keeping began in 1976, according to the report. Oregon's unemployment rate matched that of November 1982, the high point of the recession of the early 1980s, according to the state Employment Department.

Oregon's unemployment figures have been steadily rising for 14 months, since January 2008, according to state figures. One state economist forecast even higher jobless rates as the recession drags on this year.

North Dakota had the lowest unemployment rate last month, at 4.2 percent, according to Friday's report.