Alabama Among States With Highest Unemployment Due To Coronavirus

MONTGOMERY, AL — Unemployment all over the country has surged since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, and Alabama is among the states hit hardest by layoffs. A recent study shows Alabama with the 10th largest increase in unemployment due to the virus.

To identify which states’ workforces have been hurt most by COVID-19, personal finance website WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on increases in unemployment claims. That data was then used to rank the most impacted states in both the latest week of data (April 20) and overall since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis (March 16).

See the full study here.

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Increase in Alabama Unemployment Due to Coronavirus (1=Worst, 25=Avg.):

• 3,242.19% Increase in Unemployment Claims (April 2020 vs April 2019)
  • 64,170 the week of April 20, 2020 vs 1,920 the week of April 22, 2019
  • 7th highest increase in the U.S.
• 1,242.75% Increase in the Number of Unemployment Claims (April 2020 vs January 2020)
  • 64,170 the week of April 20, 2020 vs 4,779 the week of January 1, 2020
  • 21st highest increase in the U.S.
• 2,991.34% Increase in Unemployment Claims Since Pandemic Started
  • 406,732 between the week of March 16, 2020 and the week of April 20, 2020 vs 13,597 between the week of March 18, 2019 and the week of April 22, 2019
  • 17th highest increase in the U.S.

All but two of the states of the 10 most affected (West Virginia and South Dakota) are in the Southeast:

1. Florida
2. Georgia
3. Kentucky
4. Louisiana
5. North Carolina
6. South Dakota
7. Virginia
8. West Virginia
9. MIssissippi
10. Alabama

"States should aggressively focus on helping the companies in the most need. The federal response will include sending checks to most citizens, even those whose income has not been affected by the coronavirus. States can use a more targeted approach to divert resources to the companies affected the most, thus having maximum impact for the money spent," said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst.

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