With the U.S. losing over 22 million jobs since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, WalletHub today released updated rankings for the States with the Biggest Increases in Unemployment Due to Coronavirus, along with accompanying videos.
To identify which states’ workforces have been hurt most by COVID-19, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on increases in unemployment claims. We used this data to rank the most impacted states in both the latest week for which we have data (April 6) and overall since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis (March 16). Below, you can see highlights from the report, along with a WalletHub Q&A.
| Most Affected States Last Week | Least Affected States Last Week |
| 1. Colorado | 42. Alaska |
| 2. Louisiana | 43. New Jersey |
| 3. North Carolina | 44. Maine |
| 4. New Hampshire | 45. Montana |
| 5. Mississippi | 46. West Virginia |
| 6. South Dakota | 47. Idaho |
| 7. Virginia | 48. Oregon |
| 8. Indiana | 49. Wisconsin |
| 9. Kentucky | 50. Wyoming |
| 10. Georgia | 51. Connecticut |
To see the states most impacted since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, click here.
WalletHub Q&A
How do the job losses from coronavirus compare to those caused by the Great Recession?
“During the Great Recession, a grand total of 8.8 million Americans lost their jobs. The coronavirus pandemic has already claimed 22 million jobs,” said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst. “While there have been 22.7 million jobs created since the Great Recession, COVID-19 is unfortunately on track to wipe out all of the job gains by the end of this week, according to WalletHub projections.”
How do red states and blue states compare when it comes to increases in unemployment?
“With an average unemployment rank of 24, Red States suffered a higher increase of their unemployment during the coronavirus outbreak than Blue States, which rank 29 on average,” said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst. “The lower the rank, the higher the increase in initial unemployment claims that state received during the coronavirus pandemic.”
The state with the current largest number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. is New York. How has New York’s unemployment rate been affected?
“New York has seen a 783% increase in initial unemployment claims from the beginning of 2020 to the 15th week,” said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst. “This is better than the average increase of 1,709%.”
What can states do in order to minimize the rise in their unemployment rates?
“States should aggressively focus on helping the companies in the most need. The federal response will include sending checks to most citizens, even those whose income has not been affected by the coronavirus. States can use a more targeted approach to divert resources to the companies affected the most, thus having maximum impact for the money spent,” said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst.
To view the full report and your state’s rank, please visit: https://wallethub.com/edu/