States Where Unemployment Claims Are Decreasing the Most

Wallet Hub,  Sep 8, 2022

The U.S. has reduced unemployment from record highs during the COVID-19 pandemic to near record 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 decreasing by 2.6% week-over-week on August 29. There are currently 6 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:

23 states and the District of Columbia had unemployment claims last week that were lower than in the previous week: Vermont, New Hampshire, Michigan, Connecticut, Mississippi, New York, South Carolina, Alabama, West Virginia, Arkansas, Louisiana, Delaware, Maryland, Rhode Island, Oregon, Montana, Missouri, Maine, North Carolina, Florida, New Jersey, Wyoming, and Tennessee.

Surprisingly, five states - South Carolina, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Connecticut, and Arizona - had unemployment claims last week that were worse than the same week last year.

Every state had unemployment claims last week that were lower than in the same week pre-pandemic (2019) except for Oklahoma, Indiana, Connecticut, Colorado, Ohio, Utah, Virginia, Kentucky, Hawaii, Alaska, Minnesota, Texas, Rhode Island, California, Georgia, Alabama, Michigan, and Idaho.

To identify where unemployment claims are decreasing the most even 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.