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Michigan Ranked 7th Biggest Unemployment Increase In States

WIth the spread of COVID-19 many businesses across the states have had to close voluntarily or by government order.  Not all employees can work from home and millions of Americans are temporarily or permanently our of work.  Stimulus checks are coming but those without a job will likely still struggle.  Not all states are experiencing the same unemployment levels.  WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across two key metrics which compare unemployment claim increases for the week of March 23, 2020 to the same week in 2019 plus the first week of 2020.  As a result, Michigan has been ranked as having the 7th biggest unemployment increase in the states.

States with the Biggest Increase in Unemployment Due to Coronavirus

Overall Rank State Increase in Unemployment Claims (2020 vs. 2019)* Increase in Unemployment Claims (March vs. January 2020)**
1 Louisiana 5772.15% 5800.48%
2 North Carolina 6064.54% 4771.18%
3 Indiana 7093.46% 3198.22%
4 New Hampshire 6240.42% 3878.84%
5 Florida 4179.79% 4815.55%
6 Virginia 5333.52% 3479.17%
7 Michigan 6467.15% 2255.46%
8 Kentucky 5099.54% 2078.28%
9 District of Columbia 3822.96% 2991.06%
10 New Mexico 3291.34% 3427.16%
11 Tennessee 3702.49% 2963.94%
12 Ohio 4291.30% 2429.31%
13 Nevada 3447.89% 3054.55%
14 Massachusetts 4779.06% 1813.17%
15 Hawaii 3812.01% 2577.32%
16 Colorado 3998.72% 2400.37%
17 Delaware 4367.53% 2069.94%
18 Kansas 3573.76% 2611.19%
19 Mississippi 3515.19% 2526.99%
20 North Dakota 4633.46% 1406.10%
21 South Dakota 4359.73% 1569.60%
22 Nebraska 3606.18% 2135.85%
23 Vermont 3538.04% 2023.97%
24 Maryland 3386.48% 1997.84%
25 Rhode Island 4082.86% 1323.28%
26 Arizona 2281.39% 2743.68%
27 Washington 3327.81% 1770.52%
28 Pennsylvania 3758.17% 1386.85%
29 Utah 3240.35% 1781.42%
30 Alabama 3463.82% 1577.88%
31 Minnesota 3482.01% 1406.87%
32 Maine 3381.51% 1315.21%
33 California 2180.75% 2293.05%
34 Texas 2135.72% 2128.49%
35 Missouri 3161.43% 1194.27%
36 South Carolina 3487.17% 768.10%
37 Iowa 3005.90% 1174.60%
38 New Jersey 2881.07% 1241.04%
39 Oklahoma 2535.99% 1428.03%
40 Montana 2687.45% 1156.59%
41 Georgia 3073.96% 676.00%
42 Idaho 2606.97% 990.29%
43 New York 2716.53% 717.02%
44 Illinois 1829.93% 1412.29%
45 Arkansas 2110.34% 945.96%
46 Alaska 1537.32% 1380.43%
47 West Virginia 2089.49% 805.75%
48 Wyoming 2202.96% 606.19%
49 Wisconsin 1850.05% 761.40%
50 Connecticut 1591.23% 322.59%
51 Oregon 920.21% 533.04%

*Refers to the increase in the number of unemployment insurance initial claims in the 13th week of 2020 compared to the 13th week of 2019.
**Refers to the increase in the number of unemployment insurance initial claims in the 13th week of 2020 compared to the 1st week of 2020.

For more information on the WalletHub study click here.


© 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.  Information from the WalletHub website was used to write this article.

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