With all Americans now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and the country continuing to reopen, new unemployment claims decreased week-over-week on April 12, and were 91% 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.
     
  • The following states had unemployment claims last week that were lower than before the pandemic: New Jersey and Connecticut. 

  Most Recovered Last Week	Least Recovered Last Week
  1. New Jersey	42. Indiana
  2. Connecticut	43. Alaska
  3. South Dakota	44. Virginia
  4. Kansas	45. Tennessee
  5. Arizona	46. North Dakota
  6. Pennsylvania	47. New Mexico
  7. Massachusetts	48. Oklahoma
  8. Illinois	49. District of Columbia
  9. Arkansas	50. Utah
  10. South Carolina	51. Delaware

  
  To view the full report and your state’s rank, please visit:
  https://wallethub.com/edu/states-unemployment-claims/72730/  
  
  WalletHub Q&A
  
  The COVID-19 vaccine is now available to all Americans. How should we expect that to impact unemployment?
  
  “Since the COVID-19 vaccine is now available to all Americans, we should expect to see a significant decline in unemployment in the near future. There are two major reasons that unemployment will decline. The first is that the country will soon be able to proceed to a full reopening, and the second is that there will be more consumer confidence, both of which will cause a surge in business revenue,” said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst. “As businesses make more money and serve more customers, they will increase their hiring. One thing that could slow the unemployment recovery is people who do not want to return to the workforce, either due to safety concerns or because they make a similar amount of money through unemployment insurance.”
  
  Do you expect companies to require getting the COVID-19 vaccine as a condition for employment?
  
  “It is likely that some companies will require getting the COVID-19 vaccine as a condition for employment, with obvious exemptions for people who are medically unable to receive it,” said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst. “Companies should be able to have a COVID-19 vaccine requirement because they need to do everything in their power to keep their workers and customers safe. In addition, the more companies that require employees to get a vaccine, the faster we will be able to achieve a full reopening.”
  
  How might a state’s efficiency at administering the COVID-19 vaccine affect unemployment?
  
  “States that are able to more efficiently vaccinate their residents will likely see better job growth than states that are less efficient. The more a state vaccinates, the safer conditions in that state will become and the sooner businesses will be able to fully reopen and have the resources to expand hiring,” said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst. “Currently, some places are far more efficient than others. For example, New Hampshire has used 96% of its vaccine supply, while Alabama has only used 62%.”      
  
  How do red states and blue states compare when it comes to recovery?
  
  “With an average rank of 24 among the most recovered states, blue states had a better recovery from unemployment claims last week than red states, which rank 29 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 13^th quickest recovery in the U.S. For the week of April 12, California had 72,415 new unemployment claims, a 93% decrease from the peak during the coronavirus pandemic,” said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst. 
  
  The above Q&A is also provided in audio format and can be edited as needed.