To identify which states’ workforces are experiencing the quickest recovery from COVID-19, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across three metrics based on changes in unemployment claims.
Despite the fact that the U.S. has been dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic for over a year, new unemployment claims decreased week-over-week on January 18 and were 88% below the peak during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Change in Virginia Weekly Unemployment Claims (1=Quickest Recovery, 25=Avg.):
- 514.83% Change in Unemployment Claims (Latest Week vs 2019)
- 21,599 the week of January 18, 2021 vs 3,513 the week of January 21, 2019
- 8th slowest recovery in the U.S.
577.51% Change in Unemployment Claims (Latest Week vs Start of 2020)
- 21,599 the week of January 18, 2021 vs 3,188 the week of January 1, 2020
- 5th slowest recovery in the U.S.
1,211.35% Change in Unemployment Claims (Since Start of COVID-19 Crisis vs Previous Year)
- 1,411,011 between the week of March 16, 2020 and the week of January 18, 2021 vs 116,483 between the week of March 18, 2019 and the week of January 20, 2020
- 6th slowest recovery in the U.S.
View the full report and state rankings.
To help add some context to these statistics, WalletHub just released updated rankings for the states whose weekly unemployment claims are recovering the quickest.
