With nearly 39 million Americans now jobless as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic but many people actually making more money while unemployed, WalletHub today released updated rankings for the States Hit Most by Unemployment Claims, along with accompanying videos.

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. We used this data to rank the most impacted states in both the latest week for which we have data (May 11) and overall since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis (March 16). 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.):

• 485.81% Increase in Unemployment Claims (May 2020 vs May 2019)
  • 41,323 the week of May 11, 2020 vs 7,054 the week of May 13, 2019
  • 7th lowest increase in the U.S.
• 169.64% Increase in the Number of Unemployment Claims (May 2020 vs January 2020)
  • 41,323 the week of May 11, 2020 vs 15,325 the week of January 1, 2020
  • 7th lowest increase in the U.S.
• 1,424.40% Increase in Unemployment Claims Since Pandemic Started
  • 1,089,767 between the week of March 16, 2020 and the week of May 11, 2020 vs 76,507 between the week of March 18, 2019 and the week of May 13, 2019
  • 10th 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/