Tiny Rhode Island has more than its share of unemployed

Which state had the worst unemployment last year? No surprise -- Michigan with an 8.4% unemployment rate.

But what is a bit surprising from the recent figures from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics is that Rhode Island was second behind Michigan and its out-of-work auto workers, with 7.8% unemployment. Rhode Island also had the highest jump among states in its jobless rate, up 2.6 percentage points in 2008.

Something bad is happening in the smallest state in the union that most Americans probably don't know about. With a bit more than 1 million people, Rhode Island had a higher unemployment rate last year than California's 7.2%.