Despite the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic still has a strong grip on the U.S., new unemployment claims decreased week-over-week on February 15, and were 89% below the peak during the COVID-19 pandemic. To help add some context to these statistics, WalletHub just released updated rankings for the States Whose Weekly Unemployment Claims Are Recovering the Quickest, along with accompanying videos and audio files.

To identify which states’ workforces are experiencing the quickest recovery from COVID-19, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across three metrics based on changes in unemployment claims. Below, you can see highlights from the report, along with a WalletHub Q&A. To see the states most recovered since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, click here.

Change in New Jersey Weekly Unemployment Claims (1=Quickest Recovery, 25=Avg.):

• 17.96% Change in Unemployment Claims (Latest Week vs 2019)
  • 10,041 the week of February 15, 2021 vs 8,512 the week of February 18, 2019
  • 3rd quickest recovery in the U.S.
• -34.48% Change in Unemployment Claims (Latest Week vs Start of 2020)
  • 10,041 the week of February 15, 2021 vs 15,325 the week of January 1, 2020
  • 3rd quickest recovery in the U.S.
• 427.73% Change in Unemployment Claims (Since Start of COVID-19 Crisis vs Previous Year)
  • 1,987,007 between the week of March 16, 2020 and the week of February 15, 2021 vs 464,551 between the week of March 18, 2019 and the week of February 17, 2020
  • 5th quickest recovery in the U.S.

To view the full report and your state’s rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/states-unemployment-claims/72730/