NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Unemployment spiked in all states nationwide in December for the first time as companies shed hundreds of thousands of positions, federal data released Tuesday shows.
All 50 states and the District of Columbia recorded unemployment rate increases compared with the previous month and the year prior period, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported.
The report marked the first time every state recorded a rise in monthly unemployment since the bureau began keeping such records in 1976.
Michigan and Rhode Island once again led the nation with the highest jobless rates at 10.6% and 10% respectively. Rhode Island's rate is the highest in more than three decades.
The national unemployment rate rose to 7.2% in December, up from 6.8% the previous month and from 4.9% a year earlier.
More pain is in store in January. On Monday alone, companies announced more than 71,000 job cuts.
President Obama is pushing for quick passage of an $825 billion package it hopes will stimulate the economy and promote job growth.
"Just this week, we saw more people file for unemployment than at any time in the last 26 years, and experts agree that if nothing is done, the unemployment rate could reach double digits," Obama said Saturday. "If we do not act boldly and swiftly, a bad situation could become dramatically worse."
However, some critics say the bill will not do enough to reverse the spike in unemployment.
"There is too much wasteful spending and the plan in our view won't do what it is intended to do -- create jobs and preserve jobs in America," said House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio.
Swiftly rising unemployment claims is wreaking havoc on state unemployment trust funds. These accounts, which are funded by taxes levied on employers, are running dry.
Four more state funds -- Indiana, New York, South Carolina and Ohio -- have become insolvent in the last four months, according to a forthcoming report from the National Employment Law Project. They join Michigan in borrow from the federal government to continue paying benefits.
Another 13 states are at "major risk" of insolvency, up from eight in September, according to the advocacy group. These states have eight months or less of average monthly benefits in their trust funds. These include: New Jersey, California, Kentucky, Missouri, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Idaho, Minnesota, Connecticut and Illinois.
Some experts predict up to 30 states could see their funds become insolvent this year if the recession deepens.
While the jobless in these states will continue to get benefits, there are serious ramifications to having insolvent funds. State legislatures must bring the funds back into balance, which means either cutting benefits or raising taxes on employers. Neither are palatable during a recession.
Companies aren't as quick to hire new workers if they have to pay higher unemployment taxes on each one, experts said.
"It does tend to slow down their rehiring," said Richard Hobbie, executive director of the National Association of State Workforce Agencies. 
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