States Where Unemployment Claims Are Decreasing the Most

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The U.S. has reduced unemployment from record highs during the COVID-19 pandemic back to historic lows. Now, however, high inflation and the looming threat of a recession could cause unemployment claims to spike once more. For the time being, the job market is still in good shape, with new unemployment claims decreased by 7.3% week-over-week on March 27. There are currently 5.9 million Americans unemployed in total, though, and it’s important to look at some key stats for the latest week to get the full picture:

  • Every state had unemployment claims last week that were lower than in the previous week except for Louisiana, Utah, Colorado, Alaska, Arkansas, South Carolina, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Illinois, Oregon and Indiana. Wyoming has recorded no change.
  • Every state had unemployment claims last week that were lower than in the same week pre-pandemic (2019) except for Nevada, Missouri, Arkansas, Idaho, Maine, California, New York, Illinois, Georgia, New Jersey, Mississippi, Connecticut, Texas, Oregon, North Carolina, Michigan, Minnesota, District of Columbia, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Ohio, Indiana and Massachusetts.
  • Surprisingly, 27 states – including Colorado, Indiana, and Massachusetts – had unemployment claims last week that were worse than the same week last year.

To identify where unemployment claims are decreasing the most amid costly inflation, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on changes in unemployment claims for several key benchmark weeks. We also considered the number of claims per 100,000 people in the labor force.

 

Main Findings

States Where Unemployment Claims Are Decreasing the Most

State Decreased Most Since Last Week*  Claims Per 100,000 People in the Labor Force (Rank)** 
Kentucky 1 14
Oklahoma 2 9
Maryland 3 6
Delaware 4 3
District of Columbia 5 40
South Dakota 6 1
New Mexico 7 13
Alabama 8 21
New Hampshire 9 4
Kansas 10 11
North Dakota 11 8
Tennessee 12 10
Missouri 13 28
Virginia 14 2
Florida 15 5
Rhode Island 16 30
Nebraska 17 7
Vermont 18 22
West Virginia 19 16
Arizona 20 20
Michigan 21 34
Iowa 22 23
Louisiana 23 17
Pennsylvania 24 37
Georgia 25 25
Mississippi 26 19
Montana 27 32
South Carolina 28 15
Texas 29 27
Wisconsin 30 43
Maine 31 31
North Carolina 32 12
Hawaii 33 45
Nevada 34 38
New York 35 41
Washington 36 35
Connecticut 37 33
Arkansas 38 26
Wyoming 39 29
Utah 40 24
Idaho 41 36
California 42 47
New Jersey 43 42
Alaska 44 48
Colorado 45 18
Minnesota 46 39
Illinois 47 44
Ohio 48 49
Oregon 49 50
Massachusetts 50 51
Indiana 51 46

Detailed Findings

State Change in Unemployment Claims (Latest Week vs. Previous Week)*  Change in Unemployment Claims (Latest Week vs Same Week Pre-Pandemic)**  Change in Unemployment Claims (Latest Week vs Same Week of 2022)***  Unemployment Claims per 100,000 People in the Labor Force 
Kentucky -73.42% -34.82% -0.63% 69
Oklahoma -16.94% -44.26% -64.93% 50
Maryland -27.29% -37.85% -11.42% 47
Delaware -9.95% -53.18% -33.22% 40
District of Columbia -74.38% 41.42% -43.58% 137
South Dakota -22.73% -20.13% 8.18% 25
New Mexico -15.60% -25.15% -14.91% 65
Alabama -22.61% -18.76% -18.39% 80
New Hampshire -15.41% -27.71% 14.65% 41
Kansas -10.42% -34.83% -2.90% 64
North Dakota -9.65% -22.56% -2.83% 50
Tennessee -7.56% -20.76% -16.00%
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