Roughly one in ten workers have filed for unemployment in the last three weeks. Here’s a look at estimated unemployment by state:
Three states might have unemployment rates over 20% right now: Michigan, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
15 states (and the District of Columbia) likely have unemployment rates over 15%: Alaska, California, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire. New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Washington
Only 11 states have estimated unemployment rates under 10%: Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wyoming
Colorado is showing what could be the lowest unemployment rate in the country and it is still an estimated 6.9%. At the end of February, only 6 states had unemployment rates over 5%.
If you add the 16.8 million individuals who have filed for unemployment over the last three weeks to the 7.14 million who were already unemployed, the national unemployment rate jumps to nearly 15 percent.
Yes, there has been some hiring over the last three weeks, but hiring has unlikely not proceeded at the same rate as it was earlier in the year. It is likely also true that many who are eligible for unemployment benefits have not applied. Some of these figures could be our lower bounds.
