By Stacey Tinsley
A new study conducted by WalletHub says Louisiana has the third biggest increase in unemployment due to the coronavirus last week.
As more than half of the U.S. takes the first steps toward reopening the economy after months of keeping non-essential businesses closed, Americans hope to see the massive spike in unemployment start to reverse.
Almost 36.5 million Americans have found themselves temporarily or permanently out of a job since the week of March 16, which translates to a staggering 15.7% unemployment.
“The unemployment rate will not return to normal levels until we develop either a vaccine for COVID-19 or herd immunity,” said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst. “Until we have a vaccine, we must protect people vulnerable to the disease by, at the very least, requiring face masks in all indoor spaces and offering free deliveries of essential purchases, whether ordered online or by phone. The government couldn’t buy enough time to come up with a vaccine before it became untenable to keep people indoors en masse, so it looks like we’re going to need a plan for reopening as safely as possible. One of the most important tools in that effort will be app-based contact tracing, but it will have to be mandatory and that means finding a way to do it without jeopardizing any personally identifying information first.”
Though the reopening of states will provide opportunities for some people to go back to work, businesses will open in stages rather than all at once, and many may not have the resources to hire as many people as they did previously.
WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on increases in unemployment claims. They used this data to rank the most impacted states in both the latest week for which we have data (May 4) and overall since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis (March 16).
Increase in Louisiana Unemployment Due to Coronavirus (1=Worst, 25=Avg.):
- 1,885.60% Increase in Unemployment Claims (May 2020 vs May 2019)
- 40,268 the week of May 4, 2020 vs 2,028 the week of May 6, 2019
- 10th highest increase in the U.S.
- 2,328.71% Increase in the Number of Unemployment Claims (May 2020 vs January 2020)
- 40,268 the week of May 4, 2020 vs 1,658 the week of January 1, 2020
- 3rd highest increase in the U.S.
- 4,137.11% Increase in Unemployment Claims Since Pandemic Started
- 599,385 between the week of March 16, 2020 and the week of May 4, 2020 vs 14,488 between the week of March 18, 2019 and the week of May 6, 2019
- 5th highest increase in the U.S.
The rankings for other regional states: Mississippi, 6th; Oklahoma, 12th; Texas, 16th; and Arkansas, 40th.
The most impacted state this week according to the study is Connecticut.
To view the full report, please visit:https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-the-biggest-increase-in-unemployment-due-to-coronavirus/72730/.
