The Unemployment Rate in U.S. States from 1980 to September 2020

What was the impact of the Coronavirus on the American economy? What is the trend of the employment rate in the different States of the U.S.? In this new analysis some tables, videos and graphs that show the trend of the labor market in the last 30 years.

The evolution of the unemployment rate in the U.S.

The darker the color of the individual states (red and then black) the higher the unemployment rate of the individual state. The two most difficult moments of the last 30 years in the United States of America are definitely 2. The financial crisis of 2008 and the Covid-19. In January 2010 for example the unemployment rate in California was 12.2%. In MIchigan it was 13.9% and in Nevada it was 13%. Worst figures in the history of the last 30 years are not seen except during Covid-19. In fact, in May 2020 Nevada reached an unemployment rate of 25.3%. In Michigan it reached 21.3% and in California, the largest state, 16.4%.

The video with Bar Chart and map of the evolution of the unemployment rate in the U.S. On the left the map with all the States. On the right the 15 States with the highest unemployment rate.
The Unemployment Rate in U.S. States.

The interactive map of all U.S. states by unemployment rate. The more the color tends towards red and black, the higher the unemployment rate.

The impact of Covid-19 on the unemployment rate in America

If we compare the unemployment rate in 2020 to 2019, the rate has increased in all countries.
The peak of variation was on the island of Hawaii. In just 12 months it went from a rate of 2.7 to 15.10. Hawaii is the state that has had the biggest gap in this time. Among the three nations with the biggest gap are Nevada and California. Nevada grew by 8.90 and California by 7.10 from 3.90 to 11.00. The 3 states that seem to have suffered less than Covid-19 seem Puerto Rico, Nebraska and South Dakota. Between these states it is to say however that Puerto Rico had an unemployment rate above average with 7.90. The growth was in this case “only” 0.50 additional points.

State NameUnemployment rate Sep-2019Unemployment rate Sep-2020Difference from September '19 to September '20
Alabama2.76.63.9
Alaska6.27.21
Arizona4.66.72.1
Arkansas3.67.33.7
California3.9117.1
Colorado2.66.43.8
Connecticut3.77.84.1
Delaware3.98.24.3
District of Columbia5.38.73.4
Florida2.97.64.7
Georgia3.26.43.2
Hawaii2.715.112.4
Idaho2.96.13.2
Illinois3.710.26.5
Indiana3.26.23
Iowa2.84.71.9
Kansas3.15.92.8
Kentucky4.35.61.3
Louisiana5.18.13
Maine2.96.13.2
Maryland3.57.23.7
Massachusetts2.89.66.8
Michigan3.98.54.6
Minnesota3.262.8
Mississippi5.67.11.5
Missouri3.34.91.6
Montana3.55.31.8
Nebraska33.50.5
Nevada3.712.68.9
New Hampshire2.663.4
New Jersey3.66.73.1
New Mexico4.89.44.6
New York3.99.75.8
North Carolina3.77.33.6
North Dakota2.44.42
Ohio4.18.44.3
Oklahoma3.35.32
Oregon3.584.5
Pennsylvania4.68.13.5
Puerto Rico7.98.40.5
Rhode Island3.510.57
South Carolina2.45.12.7
South Dakota3.44.10.7
Tennessee3.36.33
Texas3.58.34.8
Utah2.552.5
Vermont2.44.21.8
Virginia2.76.23.5
Washington4.17.83.7
West Virginia58.63.6
Wisconsin3.45.42
Wyoming3.76.12.4
Source and useful links

The graphs and tables have been realized thanks to the data present on Bureau of Labor Statistics. The data of September 2020 being just published may be subject to slight variations.

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