Many states have been hit by a surge in COVID-19 cases, and as a result new unemployment claims increased week-over-week on November 30, up 19% from the previous week. To help add some context to this statistic, WalletHub just released updated rankings for the States Whose Weekly Unemployment Claims Are Increasing the Most, along with accompanying videos and audio files.

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

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

• 27.99% Change in Unemployment Claims (Latest Week vs Last Year)
  • 15,951 the week of November 30, 2020 vs 12,463 the week of December 2, 2019
  • 2nd smallest increase in the U.S.
• 4.08% Change in Unemployment Claims (Latest Week vs Start of 2020)
  • 15,951 the week of November 30, 2020 vs 15,325 the week of January 1, 2020
  • 3rd smallest increase in the U.S.
• 538.87% Change in Unemployment Claims (Since Start of COVID-19 Crisis vs Last Year)
  • 1,802,544 between the week of March 16, 2020 and the week of November 30, 2020 vs 334,504 between the week of March 18, 2019 and the week of December 2, 2019
  • 4th smallest increase in the U.S.

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