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The U.S. is making significant progress in the fight against COVID-19 with the distribution of the vaccine, and this has been reflected in the job market, as new unemployment claims decreased week-over-week on September 27. There are currently 8.4 million Americans unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in total, though, and it’s important to look at some key stats for the latest week to get the full picture:
- There were 326,000 new unemployment claims nationwide, which is a lot fewer than the 6.1 million during the peak of the pandemic (a 95% reduction).
- 18 states had unemployment claims last week that were lower than before the pandemic: South Carolina, Arkansas, West Virginia, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nevada, Illinois, Washington, New Hampshire, Arizona, North Dakota, Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey.
- Surprisingly, D.C. had unemployment claims last week that were worse than the same week last year.
Alabama is having a somewhat successful recovery from new unemployment claims, with last week’s claims lower than at the start of 2020, according to WalletHub’s updated rankings for the States Whose Unemployment Claims Are Recovering the Quickest.
Key Stats:
- Weekly unemployment claims in Alabama increased by 79.10% compared to the same week in 2019. This was the 7th biggest increase in the U.S.
- Weekly unemployment claims in Alabama decreased by 22.91% compared to the start of 2020. This was the 21st smallest decrease in the U.S.
- Weekly unemployment claims in Alabama decreased by 52.35% compared to the same week last year. This was the 9th smallest decrease in the U.S.
Media Release/Diana Polk
WalletHub Communications Manager
