States with the Biggest Increases in Unemployment Due to COVID-19
Louisiana, New Hampshire, and Virginia have demonstrated the largest increases in unemployed workers.
As the U.S. has embraced social distancing policies in order to minimize the spread of COVID-19, many businesses have shut their doors either voluntarily or by government order. While some businesses have dealt with the crisis by having employees work from home, that option is not available to everyone. Millions of Americans have found themselves temporarily or permanently out of a job as a result, illustrated by the extremely high number of initial unemployment insurance claims, at over 6.6 million, for the week of March 30.
While Americans have already started receiving their stimulus checks, those who are jobless will likely still struggle. However, not all states have experienced the same levels of unemployment due to the pandemic. In order to find out the states whose unemployment percentages are most and least affected, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across two key metrics. These metrics compare unemployment claim increases for the week of March 30 to both the same week in 2019 and the first week of 2020.