With increased vaccine eligibility and the gradual lifting of restrictions on businesses, new unemployment claims increased slightly week-over-week on March 29, but were still 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 Unemployment Claims Are Recovering the Quickest, along with accompanying videos and audio files.
Key Stats:
- The good news is that every state had unemployment claims last week that were better than the same week last year.
- The following states had unemployment claims last week that were lower than before the pandemic: Arkansas, Kansas, and Arizona.
| Most Recovered Last Week | Least Recovered Last Week |
| 1. Arkansas | 42. Oklahoma |
| 2. Kansas | 43. Rhode Island |
| 3. Arizona | 44. Ohio |
| 4. South Dakota | 45. Kentucky |
| 5. New Hampshire | 46. District of Columbia |
| 6. Alabama | 47. Louisiana |
| 7. Michigan | 48. Texas |
| 8. Illinois | 49. West Virginia |
| 9. South Carolina | 50. New Mexico |
| 10. Washington | 51. Virginia |
