Study: States Where Unemployment Claims Are Increasing the Most

Staff Report

Thursday, July 13th, 2023

New unemployment claims increased week-over-week on June 26 in the face of high inflation and the threat of a recession, up 5% from the previous week. To help add some context to this statistic, WalletHub just released updated rankings for the States Where Unemployment Claims Are Increasing the Most

Key Stats:

  • Every state had unemployment claims last week that were higher than in the previous week except for: Vermont, New Hampshire, Delaware, Colorado, Maryland, Texas, Louisiana, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Florida, North Dakota, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Arizona, West Virginia, Wyoming, Mississippi, North Carolina and the District of Columbia.

  • While there was an increase in weekly claims nationally, 17 states (including Massachusetts, Mississippi and Georgia) and the District of Columbia had unemployment claims last week that were better than the same week last year.

  • The following states had unemployment claims last week that were higher than in the same week pre-pandemic (2019): North Carolina, New Mexico, California, Kentucky, Virginia, Maine, Illinois, Georgia, Rhode Island, Nevada, Texas, Tennessee, Colorado, New York, Oregon, Idaho, Arkansas, Utah, Minnesota, Connecticut, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio.  

Biggest Increase Last Week

Smallest Increase Last Week

1. Kentucky

42. North Dakota

2. Michigan

43. Wyoming

3. Ohio

44. Mississippi

4. Tennessee

45. Florida

5. Connecticut

46. Colorado

6. Idaho

47. New Hampshire

7. Indiana

48. Maryland

8. Virginia

49. Vermont

9. Rhode Island

50. Delaware

10. Arkansas

51. District of Columbia

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