Despite the fact that the U.S. is still firmly in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic, new unemployment claims decreased week-over-week on August 24, and were 87% below the peak during the COVID-19 pandemic. To help add some context to these statistics, WalletHub just released updated rankings for the States Whose Weekly Unemployment Claims Are Recovering the Quickest.
To identify which states’ workforces are experiencing the quickest recovery from COVID-19, the site compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across three metrics based on changes in unemployment claims.
South Carolina came in at #5 since last week and North Carolina came in at #34 since last week.
States Whose Unemployment Claims Are Recovering the Quickest
State | Recovered Most Since Last Week | Recovered Most Since Start of COVID-19 Crisis |
---|---|---|
Oregon | 1 | 2 |
Pennsylvania | 2 | 6 |
Connecticut | 3 | 1 |
West Virginia | 4 | 18 |
South Carolina | 5 | 39 |
Illinois | 6 | 5 |
Maine | 7 | 41 |
New Jersey | 8 | 3 |
Maryland | 9 | 27 |
Wisconsin | 10 | 8 |
Nebraska | 11 | 25 |
Wyoming | 12 | 10 |
Delaware | 13 | 20 |
Vermont | 14 | 4 |
Michigan | 15 | 36 |
Utah | 16 | 15 |
North Dakota | 17 | 30 |
Arkansas | 18 | 11 |
Iowa | 19 | 7 |
Missouri | 20 | 21 |
Oklahoma | 21 | 48 |
Alabama | 22 | 32 |
Ohio | 23 | 26 |
New York | 24 | 19 |
District of Columbia | 25 | 29 |
Colorado | 26 | 37 |
Minnesota | 27 | 38 |
Washington | 28 | 34 |
Massachusetts | 29 | 22 |
Idaho | 30 | 16 |
Mississippi | 31 | 40 |
South Dakota | 32 | 42 |
Montana | 33 | 13 |
North Carolina | 34 | 43 |
Arizona | 35 | 9 |
Nevada | 36 | 31 |
Indiana | 37 | 44 |
Rhode Island | 38 | 14 |
Texas | 39 | 23 |
Virginia | 40 | 47 |
New Hampshire | 41 | 49 |
Tennessee | 42 | 35 |
Hawaii | 43 | 28 |
Alaska | 44 | 17 |
New Mexico | 45 | 33 |
California | 46 | 12 |
Kentucky | 47 | 46 |
Kansas | 48 | 24 |
Florida | 49 | 50 |
Georgia | 50 | 51 |
Louisiana | 51 | 45 |
Detailed Findings
State | Change in Unemployment Claims (Latest Week vs. Last Year)* | Change in Unemployment Claims (Latest Week vs Start of 2020)** | Change in Unemployment Claims (Since Start of COVID-19 Crisis vs. Last Year)*** |
---|---|---|---|
Oregon | 55.44% | -26.12% | 660.90% |
Pennsylvania | 115.73% | -11.60% | 815.65% |
Connecticut | 145.29% | -31.09% | 660.35% |
West Virginia | 126.59% | 18.22% | 1001.30% |
South Carolina | 168.54% | -32.82% | 1441.20% |
Illinois | 117.18% | 104.74% | 801.67% |
Maine | 199.23% | -30.19% | 1578.25% |
New Jersey | 171.00% | 25.61% | 694.64% |
Maryland | 160.29% | 64.14% | 1178.05% |
Wisconsin | 223.74% | -4.62% | 836.50% |
Nebraska | 163.88% | 112.74% | 1137.77% |
Wyoming | 230.60% | 15.86% | 854.28% |
Delaware | 213.71% | 59.54% | 1012.88% |
Vermont | 244.88% | 3.97% | 798.70% |
Michigan | 247.07% | 14.39% | 1347.69% |
Utah | 217.05% | 71.48% | 989.25% |
North Dakota | 262.34% | 3.59% | 1197.94% |
Arkansas | 225.52% | 83.73% | 869.87% |
Iowa | 260.49% | 39.05% | 830.80% |
Missouri | 274.59% | 24.24% | 1021.41% |
Oklahoma | 259.90% | 74.14% | 2011.84% |
Alabama | 266.28% | 63.63% | 1251.67% |
Ohio | 273.23% | 63.57% | 1166.17% |
New York | 319.13% | 41.27% | 1002.03% |
District of Columbia | 244.50% | 180.04% | 1180.27% |
Colorado | 284.37% | 138.75% | 1372.65% |
Minnesota | 364.17% | 41.04% | 1407.62% |
Washington | 330.74% | 112.45% | 1271.43% |
Massachusetts | 348.55% | 90.77% | 1030.17% |
Idaho | 395.57% | 17.31% | 998.15% |
Mississippi | 278.33% | 237.86% | 1473.91% |
South Dakota | 386.89% | 49.25% | 1583.84% |
Montana | 397.92% | 54.02% | 890.92% |
North Carolina | 305.66% | 251.65% | 1793.40% |
Arizona | 273.41% | 331.83% | 853.90% |
Nevada | 317.92% | 350.04% | 1205.37% |
Indiana | 444.87% | 143.19% | 1804.68% |
Rhode Island | 486.22% | 83.42% | 913.30% |
Texas | 335.00% | 358.96% | 1050.99% |
Virginia | 424.72% | 264.90% | 1941.48% |
New Hampshire | 471.39% | 209.71% | 2240.55% |
Tennessee | 441.87% | 290.24% | 1327.28% |
Hawaii | 551.51% | 277.70% | 1179.67% |
Alaska | 533.72% | 340.57% | 1001.09% |
New Mexico | 533.90% | 417.27% | 1258.48% |
California | 589.43% | 545.08% | 871.97% |
Kentucky | 779.21% | 212.95% | 1884.48% |
Kansas | 624.93% | 677.71% | 1122.65% |
Florida | 596.69% | 751.78% | 2380.64% |
Georgia | 952.70% | 196.00% | 3120.51% |
Louisiana | 676.98% | 781.48% | 1843.87% |
*Refers to the change in the number of unemployment insurance initial claims in the week of August 24, 2020 compared to the week of August 26, 2019.
**Refers to the change in the number of unemployment insurance initial claims in the week of August 24, 2020 compared to the week of January 1, 2020.
***Refers to the change in the number of unemployment insurance initial claims between the weeks of March 16, 2020 to August 24, 2020 compared to the weeks of March 18, 2019 to August 26, 2019.