As the U.S. economy has slowed to stem the surge of coronavirus, unemployment levels have hit record highs. Since March 16th, roughly 26.4 million Americans have filed for unemployment.
But each state has been affected differently by the health and economic impacts of coronavirus.
And now, a small number of states have started to push to abruptly re-open their economies, even though the White House, CDC and health officials agree that a gradual and cautious re-opening is more prudent.
WalletHub recently analyzed data from the Department of Labor to determine which states have had the biggest increases in unemployment due to COVID-19.
In order to make this calculation, WalletHub looked at the increase in the number of unemployment insurance initial claims in all 50 states and the District of Columbia over three time periods: the week of April 13, 2020 compared to the week of April 15, 2019, the week of April 13, 2020 compared to the week of January 1, 2020 and the weeks of March 16, 2020 to April 13, 2020 compared to the weeks of March 18, 2019 to April 15, 2019.
By these measures, unemployment claims increased by more than 1000% in each state.
WalletHub found that when comparing the increase in unemployment between April 2019 and April 2020 as well as January 2020 and April 2020, Florida had the most significant spike, making the argument that Florida is the state that has been the most impacted recently.
This map shows the states with the biggest increases in unemployment last week:
But when WalletHub compared March and April of last year to March and April of this year, they found that New Hampshire had the biggest increase in unemployment over this broader time period, drawing the conclusion that it is the state that has been most impacted since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis.
And here’s how the states stack up in terms of how much unemployment has spiked since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis:
1. New Hampshire
Increase in unemployment claims: 6011.75%
2. Louisiana
Increase in unemployment claims: 5250.58%
3. Georgia
Increase in unemployment claims: 4801.07%
4. Kentucky
Increase in unemployment claims: 4545.70%
5. North Carolina
Increase in unemployment claims: 4497.23%
6. Virginia
Increase in unemployment claims: 4486.67%
7. Michigan
Increase in unemployment claims: 4404.61%
8. Indiana
Increase in unemployment claims: 4212.75%
9. North Dakota
Increase in unemployment claims: 4131.58%
10. Florida
Increase in unemployment claims: 3951.01%
11. South Dakota
Increase in unemployment claims: 3898.62%
12. South Carolina
Increase in unemployment claims: 3631.52%
13. Mississippi
Increase in unemployment claims: 3510.15%
14. Colorado
Increase in unemployment claims: 3360.60%
15. Ohio
Increase in unemployment claims: 3270.87%
16. Minnesota
Increase in unemployment claims: 3257.80%
17. Delaware
Increase in unemployment claims: 3256.44%
18. District of Columbia
Increase in unemployment claims: 3157.57%
19. Nevada
Increase in unemployment claims: 3121.13%
20. Hawaii
Increase in unemployment claims: 3009.22%
21. Maine
Increase in unemployment claims: 2994.76%
22. Alabama
Increase in unemployment claims: 2925.07%
23. Nebraska
Increase in unemployment claims: 2906.78%
24. Tennessee
Increase in unemployment claims: 2885.43%
25. Kansas
Increase in unemployment claims: 2870.91%
26. Missouri
Increase in unemployment claims: 2734.04%
27. Pennsylvania
Increase in unemployment claims: 2596.17%
28. New Mexico
Increase in unemployment claims: 2583.26%
29. Maryland
Increase in unemployment claims: 2510.24%
30. Oklahoma
Increase in unemployment claims: 2455.33%
31. West Virginia
Increase in unemployment claims: 2451.57%
32. Iowa
Increase in unemployment claims: 2427.95%
33. Washington
Increase in unemployment claims: 2403.03%
34. Utah
Increase in unemployment claims: 2395.14%
35. Massachusetts
Increase in unemployment claims: 2330.49%
36. New York
Increase in unemployment claims: 2225.63%
37. Montana
Increase in unemployment claims: 2189.82%
38. Idaho
Increase in unemployment claims: 2135.47%
39. Rhode Island
Increase in unemployment claims: 2051.56%
40. New Jersey
Increase in unemployment claims: 2020.56%
41. Texas
Increase in unemployment claims: 1998.86%
42. Arkansas
Increase in unemployment claims: 1849.49%
43. Arizona
Increase in unemployment claims: 1803.46%
44. Illinois
Increase in unemployment claims: 1759.74%
45. California
Increase in unemployment claims: 1693.91%
46. Vermont
Increase in unemployment claims: 1667.88%
47. Wisconsin
Increase in unemployment claims: 1506.75%
48. Wyoming
Increase in unemployment claims: 1394.09%
49. Alaska
Increase in unemployment claims: 1366.47%
50. Connecticut
Increase in unemployment claims: 1285.56%
51. Oregon
Increase in unemployment claims: 1102.59%
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