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The coronavirus pandemic has been incredibly destructive to U.S. jobs, forcing nearly 43 million workers into unemployment since March 16. Millions of businesses closed as customers sheltered in place, forcing layoffs borne from a lack of revenue. Even though all states have now started to reopen, the employment situation continues to worsen. This week, there were nearly 1.9 million new unemployment claims nationwide, compared to 219,000 during the same week last year. However, not all states have experienced the same levels of unemployment due to the pandemic.
To identify which states’ workforces have been hurt the most by COVID-19, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on increases in unemployment claims during the latest week for which we have data (May 25) and overall since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis (March 16). We used this data to rank the most impacted states for both periods. Read on for the results, additional commentary from a panel of experts and a full description of our methodology. To see how unemployment has been affected at the city level, check out WalletHub’s report on the Cities with the Biggest Increases in Unemployment Rates.
States Hit Most by Unemployment Claims Due to COVID-19
| Florida | 1 | 2 |
| Georgia | 2 | 1 |
| Maine | 3 | 13 |
| Oklahoma | 4 | 12 |
| Mississippi | 5 | 17 |
| Kentucky | 6 | 4 |
| New Hampshire | 7 | 3 |
| Virginia | 8 | 5 |
| North Carolina | 9 | 6 |
| Maryland | 10 | 22 |
| Louisiana | 11 | 7 |
| Indiana | 12 | 8 |
| Texas | 13 | 33 |
| District of Columbia | 14 | 16 |
| Alaska | 15 | 49 |
| South Carolina | 16 | 10 |
| Michigan | 17 | 11 |
| Tennessee | 18 | 24 |
| California | 19 | 48 |
| Colorado | 20 | 15 |
| Hawaii | 21 | 23 |
| Kansas | 22 | 32 |
| Arizona | 23 | 42 |
| Nevada | 24 | 21 |
| Alabama | 25 | 20 |
| Delaware | 26 | 25 |
| New Mexico | 27 | 28 |
| Minnesota | 28 | 14 |
| Washington | 29 | 18 |
| South Dakota | 30 | 9 |
| Massachusetts | 31 | 31 |
| Nebraska | 32 | 29 |
| Illinois | 33 | 43 |
| Wisconsin | 34 | 46 |
| Connecticut | 35 | 50 |
| North Dakota | 36 | 19 |
| Utah | 37 | 37 |
| Oregon | 38 | 51 |
| New York | 39 | 35 |
| West Virginia | 40 | 27 |
| Ohio | 41 | 26 |
| Rhode Island | 42 | 34 |
| Wyoming | 43 | 45 |
| Missouri | 44 | 30 |
| Pennsylvania | 45 | 36 |
| Arkansas | 46 | 44 |
| New Jersey | 47 | 41 |
| Montana | 48 | 40 |
| Vermont | 49 | 47 |
| Idaho | 50 | 39 |
| Iowa | 51 | 38 |
| State | Increase in Unemployment Claims (2020 vs 2019)* | Increase in Unemployment Claims (May vs January 2020)** | Increase in Unemployment Claims (May vs Start of COVID-19 Crisis)*** |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | 3358.28% | 4371.50% | 3918.27% |
| Georgia | 3210.13% | 768.08% | 4642.12% |
| Maine | 3088.32% | 572.94% | 2591.95% |
| Oklahoma | 1671.74% | 1190.72% | 2596.32% |
| Mississippi | 1117.34% | 1932.68% | 2127.50% |
| Kentucky | 1680.82% | 726.92% | 3747.52% |
| New Hampshire | 1590.76% | 774.78% | 3906.99% |
| Virginia | 1248.49% | 910.10% | 3106.97% |
| North Carolina | 1210.30% | 937.63% | 3083.78% |
| Maryland | 1091.75% | 687.12% | 1999.38% |
| Louisiana | 607.50% | 1094.81% | 3007.96% |
| Indiana | 1022.85% | 432.05% | 2924.17% |
| Texas | 736.30% | 763.76% | 1605.99% |
| District of Columbia | 761.46% | 634.30% | 2185.70% |
| Alaska | 703.49% | 696.94% | 1141.88% |
| South Carolina | 955.36% | 154.13% | 2670.56% |
| Michigan | 897.93% | 210.71% | 2601.60% |
| Tennessee | 489.50% | 638.78% | 1926.15% |
| California | 562.61% | 527.62% | 1143.54% |
| Colorado | 650.28% | 397.82% | 2223.92% |
| Hawaii | 681.29% | 325.53% | 1954.85% |
| Kansas | 580.30% | 416.54% | 1667.74% |
| Arizona | 441.12% | 604.57% | 1258.58% |
| Nevada | 489.34% | 513.03% | 2007.13% |
| Alabama | 609.63% | 334.92% | 2055.43% |
| Delaware | 660.51% | 238.97% | 1860.56% |
| New Mexico | 374.17% | 632.92% | 1768.98% |
| Minnesota | 665.19% | 208.05% | 2239.04% |
| Washington | 610.53% | 247.90% | 2095.63% |
| South Dakota | 600.00% | 260.55% | 2801.51% |
| Massachusetts | 615.67% | 187.13% | 1691.23% |
| Nebraska | 415.56% | 367.24% | 1765.77% |
| Illinois | 444.05% | 294.96% | 1257.49% |
| Wisconsin | 566.83% | 94.69% | 1204.52% |
| Connecticut | 571.75% | 81.71% | 1083.92% |
| North Dakota | 463.27% | 204.55% | 2080.62% |
| Utah | 444.23% | 229.12% | 1547.44% |
| Oregon | 458.75% | 190.53% | 1063.32% |
| New York | 530.99% | 85.04% | 1569.69% |
| West Virginia | 424.88% | 189.96% | 1778.51% |
| Ohio | 383.70% | 221.94% | 1847.57% |
| Rhode Island | 481.99% | 39.30% | 1581.12% |
| Wyoming | 337.73% | 190.94% | 1210.81% |
| Missouri | 311.50% | 156.07% | 1740.91% |
| Pennsylvania | 320.87% | 84.86% | 1559.58% |
| Arkansas | 209.38% | 212.50% | 1211.04% |
| New Jersey | 311.43% | 67.26% | 1269.34% |
| Montana | 279.66% | 84.82% | 1336.44% |
| Vermont | 241.23% | 103.24% | 1156.33% |
| Idaho | 245.23% | 16.17% | 1451.08% |
| Iowa | 215.26% | 50.89% | 1454.18% |
Sources: Data used to create this ranking were obtained from the U.S. Department of Labor.
