Wyoming’s unemployment claims have increased by more than 900% in just one year, according to a recent study.
The state ranked 47th out of all 50 states and the District of Columbia when it came to how employment has recovered since the beginning of the coronavirus panademic. These findings came from personal finance website WalletHub.
Wyoming unemployment claims have increased 229.76% since the beginning of the year and 923% since the beginning of the pandemic, compared to March through August 2019.
Wyoming also was also ranked the 50th lowest state for employment recovery in the last week compared to the same time last year.
New Jersey ranked No. 1 for recoveries in the last week, but it was Connecticut that had recovered the most since the start of the pandemic.
George ranked dead last, both in terms of how quickly unemployment claims have recovered in the last week and since the beginning of the pandemic.
The coronavirus has wiped out all of the job gains since the great recession a decade ago. There were around 1 million jobless claims the first week of August.
Blue states’ unemployment claims also seem to be recovering faster than red states.
A University of Minnesota assistant professor attributed much of the employment recovery seen in the nation as stemming from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act approved by Congress.
“The CARES Act is a remarkable piece of legislation. In a matter of days, this deeply divided Senate unanimously passed $2 trillion in spending,” University of Minnesota professor Alan Benson told the website. “The bill itself was really less of a shot and more of a shotgun. Rather than focusing on any one piece of the labor market, the CARES Act provided incentives for businesses to keep people employed, expanded unemployment insurance payments and coverage for those who lost their jobs, and direct stimulus payments to individuals below certain income thresholds. These responses had a double purpose: both as a personal lifeline and as a way to stimulate consumers.”
