States Whose Unemployment Rates Are Bouncing Back Most
From: Wallet Hub
March’s jobs report showed a slowdown in growth. The economy gained 431,000 nonfarm payroll jobs, compared to 750,000 the previous month. In March, there were notable gains in sectors including leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, retail trade, and manufacturing.
Now, the U.S. unemployment rate sits at 3.6%, which is still slightly higher than it was before the pandemic but is far lower than the nearly historic high of 14.7% in April 2020. This overall drop can be attributed largely to a combination of vaccinations and states removing restrictions. It will take more time for us to reduce the unemployment rate to pre-pandemic levels than it did for the virus to reverse over a decade of job growth, though.
In order to identify the states whose unemployment rates are bouncing back most, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on six key metrics that compare unemployment rate statistics from the latest month for which data is available (March 2022) to key dates in 2019, 2020 and 2021.
Main Findings
| State | Rank |
|---|---|
| Nebraska | 1 |
| Indiana | 2 |
| Montana | 3 |
| Utah | 4 |
| Kansas | 5 |
| Minnesota | 6 |
| New Hampshire | 7 |
| Oklahoma | 8 |
| Arizona | 9 |
| Alabama | 10 |
| South Dakota | 11 |
| Idaho | 12 |
| Arkansas | 13 |
| Wisconsin | 14 |
| Virginia | 15 |
| Vermont | 16 |
| West Virginia | 17 |
| Tennessee | 18 |
| Rhode Island | 19 |
| Florida | 20 |
| Wyoming | 21 |
| Georgia | 22 |
| North Carolina | 23 |
| North Dakota | 24 |
| Mississippi | 25 |
| Louisiana | 26 |
| Missouri | 27 |
| Iowa | 28 |
| South Carolina | 29 |
| Oregon | 30 |
| Ohio | 31 |
| Colorado | 32 |
| Washington | 33 |
| Kentucky | 34 |
| Maine | 35 |
| New Jersey | 36 |
| Michigan | 37 |
| Nevada | 38 |
| Pennsylvania | 39 |
| Alaska | 40 |
| New York | 41 |
| Texas | 42 |
| Illinois | 43 |
| Connecticut | 44 |
| Delaware | 45 |
| California | 46 |
| Massachusetts | 47 |
| Maryland | 48 |
| New Mexico | 49 |
| Hawaii | 50 |
| District of Columbia | 51 |
| Overall Rank | State | Unemployment Rate (March 2022) | Change in Unemployment (March 2022 vs March 2019) | Change in Unemployment (March 2022 vs January 2020) | Change in Unemployment (March 2022 vs March 2020) | Change in Unemployment (March 2022 vs March 2021) | Not Seasonally Adjusted Continued Claims (March 2022 vs March 2019) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nebraska | 2.0% | -31.9% | -33.6% | -53.5% | -23.2% | -37.8% |
| 2 | Indiana | 2.2% | -35.7% | -36.8% | -37.1% | -48.9% | 11.8% |
| 3 | Montana | 2.3% | -30.8% | -35.6% | -32.8% | -34.0% | -39.0% |
| 4 | Utah | 2.0% | -21.8% | -19.8% | -19.6% | -33.5% | -31.2% |
| 5 | Kansas | 2.5% | -21.7% | -21.0% | -19.8% | -29.1% | -51.9% |
| 6 | Minnesota | 2.5% | -27.7% | -36.5% | -40.6% | -31.8% | -6.3% |
| 7 | New Hampshire | 2.5% | -5.6% | -9.9% | -8.6% | -36.5% | -41.7% |
| 8 | Oklahoma | 2.7% | -12.9% | -14.0% | -16.3% | -43.2% | -16.1% |
| 9 | Arizona | 3.3% | -29.5% | -32.4% | -33.9% | -42.7% | -32.0% |
| 10 | Alabama | 2.9% | -16.0% | -12.8% | -19.2% | -20.6% | -73.7% |
| 11 | South Dakota | 2.5% | -10.4% | -5.2% | -0.2% | -21.2% | -30.2% |
| 12 | Idaho | 2.7% | -3.5% | -7.3% | -3.0% | -30.5% | -34.3% |
| 13 | Arkansas | 3.1% | -11.8% | -14.0% | -39.5% | -33.1% | -29.6% |
| 14 | Wisconsin | 2.8% | -7.4% | -8.0% | -1.1% | -34.8% | -24.4% |
| 15 | Virginia | 3.0% | -0.3% | 11.0% | 1.6% | -31.5% | -69.2% |
| 16 | Vermont | 2.7% | 16.1% | -3.1% | -7.8% | -30.0% | -35.0% |
| 17 | West Virginia | 3.7% | -24.4% | -28.7% | -29.3% | -34.4% | -45.1% |
| 18 | Tennessee | 3.2% | -3.9% | -8.6% | -9.3% | -32.6% | -29.7% |
| 19 | Rhode Island | 3.4% | -2.0% | -5.9% | -5.4% | -42.6% | -20.7% |
| 20 | Florida | 3.2% | -2.8% | 17.7% | -25.7% | -37.8% | -6.9% |
| 21 | Wyoming | 3.4% | -0.4% | -28.9% | -35.5% | -31.4% | -7.1% |
| 22 | Georgia | 3.1% | -13.9% | -9.8% | -13.8% | -28.0% | 23.1% |
| 23 | North Carolina | 3.5% | -6.0% | -5.8% | -4.6% | -31.3% | -30.7% |
| 24 | North Dakota | 2.9% | 25.5% | 36.6% | 11.3% | -32.6% | -22.2% |
| 25 | Mississippi | 4.2% | -21.7% | -25.1% | -28.0% | -34.0% | -39.8% |
| 26 | Louisiana | 4.2% | -8.0% | -19.3% | -39.1% | -30.6% | -23.5% |
| 27 | Missouri | 3.6% | 16.2% | 9.3% | 2.3% | -25.7% | -39.7% |
| 28 | Iowa | 3.3% | 27.6% | 21.8% | 24.8% | -24.9% | -40.3% |
| 29 | South Carolina | 3.4% | 9.8% | 26.3% | 15.3% | -20.3% | -36.1% |
| 30 | Oregon | 3.8% | 0.6% | 16.4% | 14.6% | -36.3% | -21.4% |
| 31 | Ohio | 4.1% | -0.3% | -10.6% | -15.2% | -27.5% | -26.9% |
| 32 | Colorado | 3.7% | 41.9% | 40.5% | -23.1% | -38.2% | -35.9% |
| 33 | Washington | 4.2% | -6.7% | 8.3% | -20.5% | -26.7% | -29.1% |
| 34 | Kentucky | 4.0% | -2.5% | -1.8% | -2.3% | -13.0% | -48.0% |
| 35 | Maine | 3.6% | 29.8% | 22.4% | 31.4% | -23.8% | -13.9% |
| 36 | New Jersey | 4.2% | 27.3% | 15.1% | 25.2% | -40.1% | -14.6% |
| 37 | Michigan | 4.4% | 4.5% | 14.0% | 16.4% | -27.6% | -27.1% |
| 38 | Nevada | 5.0% | 12.7% | 28.6% | -38.8% | -46.1% | -21.1% |
| 39 | Pennsylvania | 4.9% | 8.6% | -0.4% | -7.3% | -31.3% | -34.7% |
| 40 | Alaska | 5.0% | -8.2% | -0.6% | 0.0% | -26.7% | -33.9% |
| 41 | New York | 4.6% | 15.2% | 11.6% | 12.9% | -43.1% | 7.4% |
| 42 | Texas | 4.4% | 29.9% | 32.1% | -9.7% | -29.8% | -15.7% |
| 43 | Illinois | 4.7% | 5.0% | 25.0% | -6.4% | -29.4% | -12.7% |
| 44 | Connecticut | 4.6% | 24.4% | 27.8% | 30.8% | -33.2% | -38.5% |
| 45 | Delaware | 4.5% | 28.9% | 27.8% | -7.3% | -20.8% | -33.2% |
| 46 | California | 4.9% | 15.8% | 16.6% | -11.4% | -41.0% | 0.8% |
| 47 | Massachusetts | 4.3% | 33.4% | 42.4% | 47.5% | -32.7% | -16.6% |
| 48 | Maryland | 4.6% | 41.0% | 9.5% | 4.7% | -17.3% | -27.9% |
| 49 | New Mexico | 5.3% | 2.6% | -0.9% | -12.9% | -25.9% | -8.1% |
| 50 | Hawaii | 4.1% | 40.1% | 94.3% | 83.0% | -37.2% | -1.0% |
| 51 | District of Columbia | 6.0% | -0.8% | 7.6% | 3.2% | -8.0% | -27.5% |