With the U.S. gaining 638,000 jobs in October and the national unemployment rate at 6.9% compared to the nearly historic high of 14.7% at the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, WalletHub today released updated rankings for the States Whose October Unemployment Rates Are Bouncing Back Most, along with accompanying videos and audio files, to illustrate which areas of the country have had the best recovery so far.
This report examines unemployment rates on a monthly basis, complementing the weekly analysis in WalletHub’s report on the States Whose Weekly Unemployment Claims Are Recovering the Quickest.
In order to identify the states with the best recovery in unemployment, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on four key metrics. We looked at the change in each state’s unemployment during the latest month for which we have data (October 2020) compared to October 2019 and January 2020. We also compared not seasonally adjusted continued claims in October 2020 to October 2019. Finally, we considered each state’s overall unemployment rate.
Below, you can see highlights from the report, along with a WalletHub Q&A.
Unemployment Recovery in Texas (1=Most Recovered, 25=Avg.):
- 100.34% Change in Unemployment (October 2020 vs October 2019)
- 950,292 unemployed people in October 2020 vs 474,329 in October 2019;
- 16th worst recovery in the U.S.
- 78.48% Change in Unemployment (October 2020 vs January 2020)
- 950,292 unemployed people in October 2020 vs 532,434 in January 2020;
- 11th worst recovery in the U.S.
- 435.88% Change in Not Seasonally Adjusted Continued Claims (October 2020 vs October 2019)
- 607,655 continued claims in October 2020 vs 113,394 in October 2019
- 22nd worst recovery in the U.S.
- 6.7% Unemployment Rate (October 2020)
- 16th highest unemployment rate in the U.S.
