As the U.S. economy has slowed to a crawl due to COVID-19, countless businesses have shut their doors in accordance with the resulting social distancing policies. Consequently, many businesses have furloughed or laid off employees, and 33.5 million Americans have found themselves temporarily or permanently out of a job since the week of March 16.
Though more and more states are beginning to relax certain social distancing restrictions or are planning to soon, a full reopening of the economy still seems far off. Americans should expect to see incremental change, as recommended by the White House, rather than a sudden jump back to normalcy.
While Americans have started to receive their government stimulus payments, those who are jobless will likely still struggle. However, not all states have experienced the same levels of unemployment due to the pandemic.
To identify which states’ workforces have been hurt most by COVID-19, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on increases in unemployment claims. The company used this data to rank the most impacted states in both the latest week for which we have data (April 27) and overall since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis (March 16). Read on for the results, additional commentary from a panel of experts and a full description of their methodology.
To see how unemployment has been affected in individual cities, check out WalletHub’s city-level report.
States with the Biggest Increases in Unemployment Due to Coronavirus
| State | Most Affected Last Week | Most Affected Since Start of COVID-19 Crisis |
|---|---|---|
| Florida | 1 | 5 |
| Louisiana | 2 | 4 |
| Georgia | 3 | 1 |
| Oklahoma | 4 | 21 |
| Kentucky | 5 | 3 |
| North Carolina | 6 | 6 |
| New Mexico | 7 | 26 |
| New Hampshire | 8 | 2 |
| Virginia | 9 | 7 |
| Mississippi | 10 | 13 |
| Maryland | 11 | 28 |
| Texas | 12 | 35 |
| Maine | 13 | 20 |
| District of Columbia | 14 | 16 |
| South Dakota | 15 | 9 |
| Washington | 16 | 29 |
| Indiana | 17 | 8 |
| South Carolina | 18 | 11 |
| Tennessee | 19 | 22 |
| Nevada | 20 | 19 |
| Colorado | 21 | 15 |
| Minnesota | 22 | 14 |
| Arizona | 23 | 43 |
| Hawaii | 24 | 23 |
| West Virginia | 25 | 27 |
| North Dakota | 26 | 12 |
| Missouri | 27 | 25 |
| Oregon | 28 | 50 |
| Alaska | 29 | 49 |
| Michigan | 30 | 10 |
| Delaware | 31 | 31 |
| Connecticut | 32 | 51 |
| Rhode Island | 33 | 37 |
| Massachusetts | 34 | 32 |
| Kansas | 35 | 30 |
| Nebraska | 36 | 24 |
| California | 37 | 46 |
| New Jersey | 38 | 42 |
| Alabama | 39 | 17 |
| Ohio | 40 | 18 |
| Utah | 41 | 34 |
| Vermont | 42 | 45 |
| Iowa | 43 | 36 |
| Illinois | 44 | 44 |
| Arkansas | 45 | 40 |
| Wisconsin | 46 | 47 |
| Pennsylvania | 47 | 33 |
| New York | 48 | 41 |
| Idaho | 49 | 38 |
| Wyoming | 50 | 48 |
| Montana | 51 | 39 |
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)*** |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | 2665.75% | 3650.35% | 4257.94% |
| Louisiana | 2495.17% | 3044.57% | 4496.89% |
| Georgia | 4577.06% | 1229.92% | 4955.99% |
| Oklahoma | 3325.55% | 2218.62% | 2674.65% |
| Kentucky | 4031.06% | 1447.05% | 4584.05% |
| North Carolina | 2689.46% | 2314.94% | 4109.67% |
| New Mexico | 2324.39% | 2002.75% | 2450.39% |
| New Hampshire | 2779.32% | 1615.07% | 4693.36% |
| Virginia | 2511.62% | 1817.75% | 4053.50% |
| Mississippi | 2174.06% | 2006.11% | 2948.22% |
| Maryland | 2580.16% | 1538.93% | 2405.60% |
| Texas | 1838.96% | 1898.70% | 2004.71% |
| Maine | 2722.86% | 872.64% | 2682.78% |
| District of Columbia | 1818.16% | 1590.85% | 2845.11% |
| South Dakota | 2149.10% | 843.72% | 3705.22% |
| Washington | 1973.05% | 989.06% | 2374.11% |
| Indiana | 1998.61% | 887.30% | 3705.73% |
| South Carolina | 2337.28% | 525.71% | 3394.88% |
| Tennessee | 1632.54% | 1110.08% | 2631.73% |
| Nevada | 1320.94% | 1257.55% | 2688.99% |
| Colorado | 1462.16% | 1065.03% | 2886.27% |
| Minnesota | 1767.43% | 546.29% | 2901.96% |
| Arizona | 825.76% | 1270.02% | 1553.74% |
| Hawaii | 1338.57% | 782.85% | 2597.86% |
| West Virginia | 1375.14% | 730.95% | 2431.54% |
| North Dakota | 1586.69% | 460.89% | 3342.54% |
| Missouri | 1449.62% | 560.98% | 2528.19% |
| Oregon | 1384.60% | 571.76% | 1201.59% |
| Alaska | 1042.65% | 858.61% | 1299.22% |
| Michigan | 1387.00% | 422.09% | 3690.93% |
| Delaware | 1164.42% | 606.63% | 2244.31% |
| Connecticut | 1360.07% | 360.60% | 1148.07% |
| Rhode Island | 1345.87% | 361.92% | 1890.60% |
| Massachusetts | 1190.39% | 485.88% | 2111.68% |
| Kansas | 802.77% | 805.45% | 2332.54% |
| Nebraska | 1064.30% | 496.45% | 2536.97% |
| California | 728.46% | 766.19% | 1442.67% |
| New Jersey | 1061.16% | 471.22% | 1582.96% |
| Alabama | 1039.17% | 489.73% | 2773.39% |
| Ohio | 1006.31% | 467.39% | 2754.82% |
| Utah | 877.02% | 496.64% | 2037.22% |
| Vermont | 889.21% | 452.79% | 1464.07% |
| Iowa | 823.79% | 438.44% | 1989.87% |
| Illinois | 699.10% | 532.28% | 1526.78% |
| Arkansas | 741.98% | 382.76% | 1667.46% |
| Wisconsin | 798.39% | 195.64% | 1366.23% |
| Pennsylvania | 706.57% | 253.88% | 2108.14% |
| New York | 598.67% | 335.36% | 1656.50% |
| Idaho | 775.18% | 143.29% | 1870.51% |
| Wyoming | 515.81% | 206.04% | 1313.14% |
| Montana | 459.45% | 174.15% | 1753.06% |
