With COVID-19’s continued grip on the U.S. and an uptick in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, new unemployment claims increased slightly week-over-week on November 16, but were still 89% 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. Below, you can see highlights from the report, along with a Q&A. To see the states most recovered since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, click here.
Change in New York Weekly Unemployment Claims (1=Quickest Recovery, 25=Avg.):
147.06% Change in Unemployment Claims (Latest Week vs Last Year)
- 46,922 the week of November 16, 2020 vs 18,992 the week of November 18, 2019
- 20th quickest recovery in the U.S.
4.63% Change in Unemployment Claims (Latest Week vs Start of 2020)
- 46,922 the week of November 16, 2020 vs 44,846 the week of January 1, 2020
- 5th quickest recovery in the U.S.
819.03% Change in Unemployment Claims (Since Start of COVID-19 Crisis vs Last Year)
- 4,219,393 between the week of March 16, 2020 and the week of November 16, 2020 vs 515,171 between the week of March 18, 2019 and the week of November 18, 2019
- 22nd quickest recovery in the U.S.
Q&A
How will Thanksgiving and Black Friday impact unemployment?
“Thanksgiving and Black Friday should have a positive impact on unemployment because this is one of the busiest shopping periods during the year. Though some people may spend less than usual due to the COVID-19 pandemic, more than half of merchants expect holiday sales to increase this year compared to last year, according to the National Retail Federation,” said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst. “Businesses should get a big influx of revenue, especially through online shopping, which should put them in a better position to hire new employees or rehire those who were already laid off.”
What does the recent vaccine news from Moderna mean for unemployment?
“The fact that Moderna announced that their vaccine is nearly 95% effective should be a big encouragement to people who are unemployed. Since two companies, Moderna and Pfizer, both have demonstrated an effective vaccine, we can expect to see a larger quantity of doses become available initially, assuming both vaccines are approved,” said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst. “The sooner we can get the majority of Americans vaccinated, the sooner we can proceed to a full reopening. Once businesses are allowed to operate at full capacity, we can expect to see more aggressive hiring.”
Should the government step in to help industries like movie theaters avoid going bankrupt?
“The government should take actions to prevent highly-impacted industries such as movie theaters from going bankrupt. Government restrictions on capacity, though essential for safety, have caused many places to become unprofitable. We should protect businesses against bankruptcy to prevent another rise in unemployment,” said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst. “In order to receive assistance, companies and landlords in danger of bankruptcy should also be willing to share in the cost. The government can’t be solely responsible for bailing everyone out.”
How do red states and blue states compare when it comes to recovery?
“With an average rank of 24 among the most recovered states, red states had a better recovery from unemployment claims last week than blue states, which rank 29 on average,” said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst. “The lower the number of the ranking, the bigger the state’s recovery was.”
