– WalletHub Study

New unemployment claims decreased week-over-week on November 29, and were 97% below the peak during the COVID-19 pandemic. To help add some context to these statistics, WalletHub just released updated rankings for the States Whose Unemployment Claims Are Recovering the Quickest, along with accompanying videos and audio files.

Key Stats:

• The good news is that every state had unemployment claims last week that were better than the same week last year.
   
• Every state had unemployment claims last week that were lower than before the pandemic except for Florida, Minnesota, Alabama, Wisconsin, California, Michigan, Tennessee, Hawaii, Alaska, North Carolina, Indiana, and New Mexico.

To view the full report and your state’s rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/states-unemployment-claims/72730  


WalletHub Q&A

How is the Omicron variant affecting unemployment?

“The omicron coronavirus variant is creating uncertainty in everything from consumer habits to the labor market. This uncertainty is not a good thing for unemployment,” said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst. “The new variant is keeping people who would otherwise return to work at home due to public health fears. Vaccine boosters have also become harder and harder to come by in the past weeks, which isn’t helping those who might be willing to come back to work.”

Do you think the additional tax refunds sent by the IRA will boost consumer spending?

“The additional tax refunds recently sent by the IRA should aid in consumer spending, right on time for Q4 holiday shopping. Due to previous overpayments, more than $510 million in refunds were sent, averaging about $1,189 per filer. That is a decent chunk of change,” said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst. “That should match or surpass most people’s holiday shopping budget. This round of additional refunds should give consumers a boost right when they need it, while Q1 tax refunds are typically used to pay down debt.”

How do red states and blue states compare when it comes to recovery?

“With an average rank of 25 among the most recovered states, blue states had a better recovery from unemployment claims last week than red states, which rank 27 on average,” said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst. “The lower the number of the ranking, the bigger the state’s recovery was.” 

How has unemployment in California – the state with the most COVID-19 cases – recovered?

“California’s unemployment claims have experienced the 8^th slowest recovery in the U.S. For the week of November 29, California had 56,649 new unemployment claims, a 95% decrease from the peak during the coronavirus pandemic,” said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst.