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.
To identify which states’ workforces have been hurt most by COVID-19, the site 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).
Increase in North Carolina Unemployment Due to Coronavirus (1=Worst, 25=Avg.):
- 4,419.46% Increase in Unemployment Claims (April 2020 vs April 2019)
- 137,934 the week of April 6, 2020 vs 3,052 the week of April 8, 2019
- 8th highest increase in the U.S.
- 3,831.98% Increase in the Number of Unemployment Claims (April 2020 vs January 2020)
- 137,934 the week of April 6, 2020 vs 3,508 the week of January 1, 2020
- 3rd highest increase in the U.S.
- 4,605.70% Increase in Unemployment Claims Since Pandemic Started
- 541,584 between March 16, 2020 and April 6, 2020 vs 11,759 between March 18, 2019 and April 8, 2019
- 7th highest increase in the U.S.
Detailed Findings
State | Increase in Unemployment Claims (2020 vs 2019)* | Increase in Unemployment Claims (April vs January 2020)** | Increase in Unemployment Claims (April vs Start of COVID-19 Crisis)*** |
---|---|---|---|
Louisiana | 4141.92% | 4727.80% | 5133.33% |
Colorado | 5058.22% | 4222.21% | 3341.62% |
North Carolina | 4419.46% | 3831.98% | 4605.70% |
Florida | 2757.26% | 3825.79% | 2794.29% |
Mississippi | 4123.24% | 3818.51% | 3384.17% |
New Hampshire | 4876.30% | 3368.99% | 6429.42% |
Virginia | 4554.30% | 3247.65% | 4706.10% |
Arizona | 1572.09% | 3022.09% | 1934.07% |
Indiana | 4886.67% | 2565.40% | 4670.06% |
Nevada | 2640.44% | 2558.13% | 3645.04% |
New Mexico | 2291.90% | 2339.80% | 2728.03% |
Tennessee | 3355.27% | 2324.51% | 2801.61% |
Kentucky | 5391.60% | 2136.97% | 4391.14% |
Texas | 1872.65% | 2112.07% | 1901.15% |
District of Columbia | 2263.72% | 1959.04% | 3419.32% |
Alabama | 3725.24% | 1805.82% | 2973.66% |
Hawaii | 2975.62% | 1800.99% | 3078.33% |
Georgia | 5950.42% | 1761.23% | 4679.15% |
California | 1576.34% | 1700.02% | 1833.86% |
Oklahoma | 2585.14% | 1564.19% | 2514.47% |
Michigan | 3831.17% | 1560.63% | 4753.10% |
Utah | 1672.07% | 1492.29% | 2560.30% |
South Dakota | 7495.06% | 1445.73% | 4200.74% |
Maryland | 2087.88% | 1427.45% | 2822.13% |
Kansas | 2270.49% | 1423.97% | 2916.69% |
Delaware | 2653.53% | 1416.80% | 3377.03% |
Washington | 2069.13% | 1401.56% | 2631.47% |
Nebraska | 2795.94% | 1391.45% | 3291.60% |
Ohio | 2903.21% | 1361.27% | 3645.86% |
Vermont | 1257.88% | 1293.82% | 2099.81% |
Arkansas | 2286.97% | 1244.53% | 1862.06% |
Alaska | 1185.48% | 1199.90% | 1352.57% |
Missouri | 3291.82% | 1181.58% | 2784.75% |
North Dakota | 3715.44% | 1141.39% | 4209.89% |
Minnesota | 3096.65% | 1129.04% | 3447.46% |
Illinois | 1725.17% | 1097.46% | 1879.42% |
South Carolina | 4202.55% | 1073.68% | 3545.27% |
Rhode Island | 2936.62% | 1056.44% | 4025.80% |
Massachusetts | 2207.73% | 988.76% | 3413.59% |
Iowa | 2424.84% | 910.82% | 2670.12% |
West Virginia | 1423.49% | 833.18% | 1559.64% |
New Jersey | 1740.07% | 817.46% | 2279.09% |
New York | 3163.94% | 782.91% | 2353.89% |
Pennsylvania | 1973.57% | 773.17% | 2882.22% |
Montana | 1548.71% | 764.12% | 2372.42% |
Maine | 1766.81% | 698.14% | 3327.58% |
Oregon | 1070.27% | 658.56% | 1135.74% |
Wyoming | 721.44% | 640.79% | 1444.62% |
Idaho | 1779.43% | 502.54% | 2289.62% |
Wisconsin | 1391.97% | 443.68% | 1591.15% |
Connecticut | 883.27% | 332.53% | 1218.54% |