Despite recent spikes in COVID-19, new unemployment claims decreased week-over-week on July 27, and were still 83% 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, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across three metrics based on changes in unemployment claims.
South Carolina has recovered the 8th fastest over the past week. North Carolina was ranked #38 over the past week, and both states have fared considerably worse over the course of the pandemic.
States Whose Unemployment Claims Are Recovering the Quickest
| State | Recovered Most Since Last Week | Recovered Most Since Start of COVID-19 Crisis |
|---|---|---|
| New Jersey | 1 | 3 |
| Oregon | 2 | 2 |
| Pennsylvania | 3 | 7 |
| Iowa | 4 | 9 |
| West Virginia | 5 | 22 |
| Maine | 6 | 42 |
| Missouri | 7 | 20 |
| South Carolina | 8 | 40 |
| Maryland | 9 | 29 |
| Illinois | 10 | 5 |
| Massachusetts | 11 | 21 |
| Michigan | 12 | 36 |
| Montana | 13 | 13 |
| Oklahoma | 14 | 48 |
| Connecticut | 15 | 1 |
| Utah | 16 | 17 |
| Vermont | 17 | 4 |
| Delaware | 18 | 19 |
| Alabama | 19 | 33 |
| North Dakota | 20 | 32 |
| Idaho | 21 | 16 |
| Wisconsin | 22 | 6 |
| Hawaii | 23 | 27 |
| Wyoming | 24 | 8 |
| Colorado | 25 | 37 |
| District of Columbia | 26 | 28 |
| Washington | 27 | 34 |
| Rhode Island | 28 | 14 |
| South Dakota | 29 | 41 |
| Ohio | 30 | 26 |
| Nebraska | 31 | 25 |
| Arizona | 32 | 11 |
| Minnesota | 33 | 38 |
| Tennessee | 34 | 35 |
| New York | 35 | 18 |
| Texas | 36 | 24 |
| Indiana | 37 | 43 |
| North Carolina | 38 | 45 |
| New Hampshire | 39 | 49 |
| Kansas | 40 | 23 |
| California | 41 | 9 |
| Mississippi | 42 | 39 |
| Louisiana | 43 | 46 |
| Alaska | 44 | 15 |
| Nevada | 45 | 30 |
| Arkansas | 46 | 12 |
| New Mexico | 47 | 31 |
| Kentucky | 48 | 44 |
| Virginia | 49 | 47 |
| Georgia | 50 | 51 |
| Florida | 51 | 50 |
Rank 1 = Most Recovered