States Experiencing the Quickest Recovery of Unemployment Claims

Staff Report

Friday, May 19th, 2023

New unemployment claims decreased by 7.3% week-over-week on March 27 despite high inflation and the threat of a recession. To help add some context to these statistics, WalletHub just released updated rankings for the States Where Unemployment Claims Are Decreasing the Most

Key Stats:

  • Every state had unemployment claims last week that were lower than in the previous week except for Louisiana, Utah, Colorado, Alaska, Arkansas, South Carolina, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Illinois, Oregon and Indiana. Wyoming has recorded no change.

  • Every state had unemployment claims last week that were lower than in the same week pre-pandemic (2019) except for Nevada, Missouri, Arkansas, Idaho, Maine, California, New York, Illinois, Georgia, New Jersey, Mississippi, Connecticut, Texas, Oregon, North Carolina, Michigan, Minnesota, District of Columbia, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Ohio, Indiana and Massachusetts. 

  • Surprisingly, 27 states – including Colorado, Indiana, and Massachusetts – had unemployment claims last week that were worse than the same week last year.

Decreased Most Last Week

Decreased Least Last Week

1. Kentucky

42. California

2. Oklahoma

43. New Jersey

3. Maryland

44. Alaska

4. Delaware

45. Colorado

5. District of Columbia

46. Minnesota

6. South Dakota

47. Illinois

7. New Mexico

48. Ohio

8. Alabama

49. Oregon

9. New Hampshire

50. Massachusetts

10. Kansas

51. Indiana

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