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 today released updated rankings for the States Hit Most by Unemployment Claims, along with accompanying videos. This report is a follow-up to our 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 we have data (May 25) and overall since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis (March 16). We used this data to rank the most impacted states for both periods. Below, you can see 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.

Increase in New Jersey Unemployment Claims Due to Coronavirus (1=Worst, 25=Avg.):

• 311.43% Increase in Unemployment Claims (May 2020 vs May 2019)
  • 25,632 the week of May 25, 2020 vs 6,230 the week of May 27, 2019
  • 6th lowest increase in the U.S.
• 67.26% Increase in the Number of Unemployment Claims (May 2020 vs January 2020)
  • 25,632 the week of May 25, 2020 vs 15,325 the week of January 1, 2020
  • 4th lowest increase in the U.S.
• 1,269.34% Increase in Unemployment Claims Since Pandemic Started
  • 1,150,851 between the week of March 16, 2020 and the week of May 25, 2020 vs 90,665 between the week of March 18, 2019 and the week of May 27, 2019
  • 11th lowest increase in the U.S.

To view the full report and your state’s rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-the-biggest-increase-in-unemployment-due-to-coronavirus/72730/.