Washington No. 11 in decreased week-over-week unemployment claims

(The Center Square) – Washington nearly cracked the top 10 in terms of states with a decrease in new week-over-week unemployment claims on Jan. 24.

That’s according to personal finance website WalletHub’s updated rankings for “States Whose Unemployment Claims Are Recovering the Quickest.”

“Washington is the state with the 11th quickest unemployment claims recovery, and the eighth best recovery since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, with an increase of just above 23%,” said WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez in an email to The Center Square about the Thursday study.

She went on to say, “Compared to the pre-pandemic levels from the first week of 2020, the number of unemployment insurance initial claims in Washington dropped by over 50%, the ninth best recovery in the country.”

To identify which states’ workforces are recovering the fastest, WalletHub compared all 50 states and the District of Columbia based on changes in unemployment claims for several benchmark weeks.

Washington state fared much better than its Pacific Northwest neighbors, Oregon and Idaho, which ranked at No. 35 and No. 22, respectively.

The report said there were 238,000 new unemployment claims nationwide, as compared to the more than 6.1 million during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that every state had unemployment claims last week that were better than the same week last year.

The top 10 states in terms of new week-over-week unemployment claims are:

1. Delaware

2. Rhode Island

3. New Hampshire

4. Maryland

5. Arkansas

6. South Carolina

7. Kansas

8. South Dakota

9. Arizona

10. Virginia

The bottom 10 states or state designates in terms of new week-over-week unemployment claims are:

51. Indiana

50. Tennessee

49. District of Columbia

48. Kentucky

47. California

46. Michigan

45. Alabama

44. West Virginia

43. Utah

42. Hawaii

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