Vermont Business Magazine While 100,000 Vermonters have filed for unemployment since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, the state is doing far better than most in new claims filed by the end of May. The coronavirus pandemic has been incredibly destructive to US jobs, forcing nearly 43 million workers into unemployment since March 16. Millions of businesses closed as customers sheltered in place, forcing layoffs borne from a lack of revenue. Even though all states have now started to reopen, the employment situation continues to worsen.
This week, there were nearly 1.9 million new unemployment claims nationwide, compared to 219,000 during the same week last year. However, not all states have experienced the same levels of unemployment due to the pandemic.
Total new claims in Vermont were 1,465, down 87 from the week before but 1,060 more than. Ongoing claims were 47,781, down 4,056 from the week before but 44,376 more than last year.
Vermont ranked 49th for the most recent week for which WalletHub had data and 47th since the beginning of the pandemic. Georgia has seen the highest percentage of layoffs and Florida is second, but with the most last week.
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 they have data (May 25) and overall since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis (March 16). WalletHub used this data to rank the most impacted states for both periods.
States Hit Most by Unemployment Claims Due to COVID-19
|
State |
Most Affected Last Week |
Most Affected Since Start of COVID-19 Crisis |
|---|---|---|
| Florida | 1 | 2 |
| Georgia | 2 | 1 |
| Maine | 3 | 13 |
| Oklahoma | 4 | 12 |
| Mississippi | 5 | 17 |
| Kentucky | 6 | 4 |
| New Hampshire | 7 | 3 |
| Virginia | 8 | 5 |
| North Carolina | 9 | 6 |
| Maryland | 10 | 22 |
| Louisiana | 11 | 7 |
| Indiana | 12 | 8 |
| Texas | 13 | 33 |
| District of Columbia | 14 | 16 |
| Alaska | 15 | 49 |
| South Carolina | 16 | 10 |
| Michigan | 17 | 11 |
| Tennessee | 18 | 24 |
| California | 19 | 48 |
| Colorado | 20 | 15 |
| Hawaii | 21 | 23 |
| Kansas | 22 | 32 |
| Arizona | 23 | 42 |
| Nevada | 24 | 21 |
| Alabama | 25 | 20 |
| Delaware | 26 | 25 |
| New Mexico | 27 | 28 |
| Minnesota | 28 | 14 |
| Washington | 29 | 18 |
| South Dakota | 30 | 9 |
| Massachusetts | 31 | 31 |
| Nebraska | 32 | 29 |
| Illinois | 33 | 43 |
| Wisconsin | 34 | 46 |
| Connecticut | 35 | 50 |
| North Dakota | 36 | 19 |
| Utah | 37 | 37 |
| Oregon | 38 | 51 |
| New York | 39 | 35 |
| West Virginia | 40 | 27 |
| Ohio | 41 | 26 |
| Rhode Island | 42 | 34 |
| Wyoming | 43 | 45 |
| Missouri | 44 | 30 |
| Pennsylvania | 45 | 36 |
| Arkansas | 46 | 44 |
| New Jersey | 47 | 41 |
| Montana | 48 | 40 |
| Vermont | 49 | 47 |
| Idaho | 50 | 39 |
| Iowa | 51 | 38 |
Rank 1 = Most Affected.
Detailed Findings
|
State |
Increase in Unemployment Claims (2020 vs 2019)* |
Increase in Unemployment Claims (May vs January 2020)** |
Increase in Unemployment Claims (May vs Start of COVID-19 Crisis)*** |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | 3358.28% | 4371.50% | 3918.27% |
| Georgia | 3210.13% | 768.08% | 4642.12% |
| Maine | 3088.32% | 572.94% | 2591.95% |
| Oklahoma | 1671.74% | 1190.72% | 2596.32% |
| Mississippi | 1117.34% | 1932.68% | 2127.50% |
| Kentucky | 1680.82% | 726.92% | 3747.52% |
| New Hampshire | 1590.76% | 774.78% | 3906.99% |
| Virginia | 1248.49% | 910.10% | 3106.97% |
| North Carolina | 1210.30% | 937.63% | 3083.78% |
| Maryland | 1091.75% | 687.12% | 1999.38% |
| Louisiana | 607.50% | 1094.81% | 3007.96% |
| Indiana | 1022.85% | 432.05% | 2924.17% |
| Texas | 736.30% | 763.76% | 1605.99% |
| District of Columbia | 761.46% | 634.30% | 2185.70% |
| Alaska | 703.49% | 696.94% | 1141.88% |
| South Carolina | 955.36% | 154.13% | 2670.56% |
| Michigan | 897.93% | 210.71% | 2601.60% |
| Tennessee | 489.50% | 638.78% | 1926.15% |
| California | 562.61% | 527.62% | 1143.54% |
| Colorado | 650.28% | 397.82% | 2223.92% |
| Hawaii | 681.29% | 325.53% | 1954.85% |
| Kansas | 580.30% | 416.54% | 1667.74% |
| Arizona | 441.12% | 604.57% | 1258.58% |
| Nevada | 489.34% | 513.03% | 2007.13% |
| Alabama | 609.63% | 334.92% | 2055.43% |
| Delaware | 660.51% | 238.97% | 1860.56% |
| New Mexico | 374.17% | 632.92% | 1768.98% |
| Minnesota | 665.19% | 208.05% | 2239.04% |
| Washington | 610.53% | 247.90% | 2095.63% |
| South Dakota | 600.00% | 260.55% | 2801.51% |
| Massachusetts | 615.67% | 187.13% | 1691.23% |
| Nebraska | 415.56% | 367.24% | 1765.77% |
| Illinois | 444.05% | 294.96% | 1257.49% |
| Wisconsin | 566.83% | 94.69% | 1204.52% |
| Connecticut | 571.75% | 81.71% | 1083.92% |
| North Dakota | 463.27% | 204.55% | 2080.62% |
| Utah | 444.23% | 229.12% | 1547.44% |
| Oregon | 458.75% | 190.53% | 1063.32% |
| New York | 530.99% | 85.04% | 1569.69% |
| West Virginia | 424.88% | 189.96% | 1778.51% |
| Ohio | 383.70% | 221.94% | 1847.57% |
| Rhode Island | 481.99% | 39.30% | 1581.12% |
| Wyoming | 337.73% | 190.94% | 1210.81% |
| Missouri | 311.50% | 156.07% | 1740.91% |
| Pennsylvania | 320.87% | 84.86% | 1559.58% |
| Arkansas | 209.38% | 212.50% | 1211.04% |
| New Jersey | 311.43% | 67.26% | 1269.34% |
| Montana | 279.66% | 84.82% | 1336.44% |
| Vermont | 241.23% | 103.24% | 1156.33% |
| Idaho | 245.23% | 16.17% | 1451.08% |
| Iowa | 215.26% | 50.89% | 1454.18% |
*Refers to the increase in the number of unemployment insurance initial claims in the week of May 25, 2020 compared to the week of May 27, 2019.
**Refers to the increase in the number of unemployment insurance initial claims in the week of May 25, 2020 compared to the week of January 1, 2020.
***Refers to the increase in the Number of Unemployment Insurance Initial Claims between the weeks of March 16, 2020 to May 25, 2020 compared to the weeks of March 18, 2019 to May 27, 2019.
Red States vs. Blue States
