NJ Among States With Worst Unemployment Recovery Rate: Study

NEW JERSEY — New Jersey had third worst recovery from pandemic unemployment out of all U.S. states, the personal finance website WalletHub determined last week.

WalletHub released updated rankings for the States Whose Unemployment Rates Are Bouncing Back Most, along with accompanying videos and audio files.

In order to identify the states whose unemployment rates are bouncing back most, WalletHub
compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on five key metrics.

(The government classifies people as unemployed if they have no job, are able to work, and are looking for a job. Otherwise they are considered not in the labor force.)

WalletHub compared data from December 2021 to data from December of 2020 and to December of 2019.

The site said that from December of 2019 (before COVID hit) to December of 2021, unemployment increased in New Jersey 70 percent. There were 280,211 people unemployed in the Garden State in December 2021 vs. 165,039 two years earlier, the site said.

That metric contributed to classifying the Garden State the one with the third worst recovery.

However, unemployment did decrease 17.03 percent in New Jersey from the first year of the pandemic to two months ago: There were 337,731 unemployed in December of 2020, and 280,211 in December 2021. Over that one year, New Jersey had the sixth worst recovery.

Nebraska, Utah, and Oklahoma ranked at the top in the recovery rankings.

Nevada and Hawaii ranked below New Jersey.

To view the full report and rankings, visit: https://wallethub.com/edu/states-unemployment-rates/74907

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