Changes in Unemployment Rate by City
From: WalletHub
The U.S. job market has healed a lot from the damage done by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the national unemployment rate is currently at 3.6%, which is 76% lower than the peak of 14.7% during April 2020. Unfortunately, high levels of inflation and the threat of a recession on the horizon could cause a surge in unemployment in the near future. Some cities’ jobs have weathered the storm better than others, though.
In order to identify where workers have been most affected by the coronavirus pandemic, WalletHub compared 180 cities based on five key metrics. We looked at the change in each city’s unemployment during the latest month for which data was available (June 2022) compared to May 2022, June 2021, June 2020 and June 2019. We also considered each city’s overall unemployment rate.
Unemployment Rate Changes by City
| Overall Rank | City | Unemployment Rate (June 2022) | Change in Unemployment (June 2022 vs May 2022) | Change in Unemployment (June 2022 vs June 2021) | Change in Unemployment (June 2022 vs June 2020) | Change in Unemployment (June 2022 vs June 2019) |
|---|
| 175 | Wilmington, DE | 7.20% | 16.08% | -27.14% | -63.66% | 20.13% |
| 179 | Dover, DE | 8.00% | 17.80% | -33.11% | -60.70% | 27.83% |
T-1. Manchester, NH
T-4. Sioux Falls, SD
T-4. South Burlington, VT
176. Brownsville, TX
177. Wilmington, DE
178. Cleveland, OH
179. Dover, DE
180. Detroit, MI
Ask the Experts In order to provide insight on how to help the unemployed during these times of economic difficulty, WalletHub turned to a panel of experts. Click on the experts below to see their bios and responses to the following key questions:
- What are some measures local authorities can take to assist the unemployed?
- Given the current state of the economy, how long will it take for unemployment rates to return to pre-crisis levels?
- What can those that are newly unemployed be doing right now?
- How has unemployment impacted the current shift in the supply and demand chain of the labor market?
Ph.D., Professor and Chair of Organizational Leadership in the Woodbury School of Business; Academic Director of the UVU Center for Social Impact and the UVU SIMLab – Utah Valley University
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Ph.D., Lecturer, Department of Economics – Boston University
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Ph.D. – MacAllister Chair & Professor of Economics – Creighton University
Methodology In order to determine the cities with the biggest changes in unemployment, WalletHub compared 180 of the largest cities — including the 150 most populated U.S. cities, plus at least one of the most populated cities in each state — across two categories. In the first category, we compared the change in unemployment for the latest month for which data was available (June 2022) to May 2022, June 2021, June 2020 and June 2019, in order to show the impact since the beginning of the pandemic and the recent changes in the job market amid high inflation. In the second category, we looked at each city’s overall unemployment rate. We then used the average of those categories to rank-order the cities.
Change in Unemployment – Total Points: 50
- Change in Unemployment in June 2022 vs. May 2022: Full Weight (~12.50 Points)
- Change in Unemployment in June 2022 vs. June 2021: Full Weight (~12.50 Points)
- Change in Unemployment in June 2022 vs. June 2020: Full Weight (~12.50 Points)
- Change in Unemployment in June 2022 vs. June 2019: Full Weight (~12.50 Points)
Unemployment Rate – Total Points: 50
- Unemployment Rate (June 2022): Full Weight (~50.00 Points)
Sources: Data used to create this ranking were obtained from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.