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 26, and were 92% 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.
- Surprisingly, Vermont had unemployment claims last week that were worse than the same week last year.
- Unfortunately, no state had unemployment claims last week that were better than before the pandemic.
| Most Recovered Last Week | Least Recovered Last Week |
| 1. New York | 42. Nevada |
| 2. South Dakota | 43. Kentucky |
| 3. South Carolina | 44. Oklahoma |
| 4. Iowa | 45. West Virginia |
| 5. Kansas | 46. Virginia |
| 6. Arkansas | 47. Michigan |
| 7. Connecticut | 48. New Mexico |
| 8. New Jersey | 49. Delaware |
| 9. Washington | 50. Rhode Island |
| 10. Illinois | 51. Vermont |
To view the full report and your state’s rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/
WalletHub Q&A
If the U.S. fails to reach “herd immunity,” what could that mean for unemployment?
“If the U.S. fails to reach ‘herd immunity,’ that wouldn’t be ideal, but it also wouldn’t prevent us from getting things back to normal. A significant portion of the population is getting vaccinated, which will still greatly reduce the transmission rate and threat of the disease. As a result, we should see a continued decline in unemployment,” said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst. “The U.S. has already made big strides toward a full reopening. The more people who choose to get vaccinated, the smoother that reopening will be and the greater companies’ hiring capabilities will be.”
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 do red states and blue states compare when it comes to recovery?
“With an average rank of 27 among the most recovered states, blue states had a worse recovery from unemployment claims last week than red states, which rank 25 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 18th quickest recovery in the U.S. For the week of April 26, California had 71,204 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.
