With nearly 43 million Americans losing their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic and new unemployment claims this week higher than in the same week last year, WalletHub yesterday released updated rankings for the States Hit Most by Unemployment Claims.
This report is a follow-up to WalleteHub’s report on the Cities with the Biggest Increases in Unemployment Rates.
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 it has data (May 25) and overall since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis (March 16). It used this data to rank the most impacted states for both periods.
Below are highlights from the report, along with a WalletHub Q&A. To see the states most impacted since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, click here.
| Most Affected States Last Week | Least Affected States Last Week |
| 1. Florida | 42. Rhode Island |
| 2. Georgia | 43. Wyoming |
| 3. Maine | 44. Missouri |
| 4. Oklahoma | 45. Pennsylvania |
| 5. Mississippi | 46. Arkansas |
| 6. Kentucky | 47. New Jersey |
| 7. New Hampshire | 48. Montana |
| 8. Virginia | 49. Vermont |
| 9. North Carolina | 50. Idaho |
| 10. Maryland | 51. Iowa |
The full report and your state’s rank are available here.
