Michigan is Now #1 in Unemployment Recovery

Michigan has not only shown consistent job growth but is also recovering quicker than any other state in the nation.

With nearly 18 million people in the United States still without a job during this pandemic.  Good news is hard to come by.  Some states are recovering far quicker than others according to this study from WalletHub,

To identify which states’ workforces are experiencing the quickest recovery from COVID-19, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across three metrics based on changes in unemployment claims.

We'll share WalletHub's detailed methodology later in this article so you can better understand how they came up with these results.

Before we dig into the full rankings, let's do a little deep dive into the Mitten State.

When comparing Unemployment claims the week of July 13th, 2020 to July 15th, 2019, (last week vs. last year) Michigan has seen a 128.7% change.  No other state in the nation even comes close.  Oregon is at #2 with a 181.96% change and New Jersey is at #3 with a 217.3% change.  Those are amazing numbers.

Michigan still comes in at a very respectable #6 when you compare the state's unemployment numbers from July 13th, 2020 to January 1st, 2020

Here are the top 10 states with the best unemployment recovery (last week vs. last year)

#1.  Michigan
#2.  Oregon
#3.  Pennsylvania
#4.  New Jersey
#5.  South Dakota
#6.  Missouri
#7.  West Virginia
#8.  Maine
#9.  Massachusetts
#10. Connecticut

WalletHub's data source was the U.S. Department of Labor using the following methodology:

Our first ranking is based on the most recent data only, and uses the following metrics:

• Change in Number of Unemployment Insurance Initial Claims in Latest Week vs. Last Year: Double Weight (~66.67 Points)
  Note: This metric measures the change in the number of unemployment insurance initial claims in the week of July 13, 2020 compared to the week of July 15, 2019.
• Change in Number of Unemployment Insurance Initial Claims in Latest Week vs. Start of 2020: Full Weight (~33.33 Points)
  Note: This metric measures the change in the number of unemployment insurance initial claims in the week of July 13, 2020 compared to the week of January 1, 2020.

The second ranking is based on cumulative data since the beginning of the pandemic:

• Change in Number of Unemployment Insurance Initial Claims Since Start of COVID-19 Crisis vs. Last Year: Full Weight (~100.00 Points)
  Note: This metric measures the change in the number of unemployment insurance initial claims between the weeks of March 16, 2020 to July 13, 2020 compared to the weeks of March 18, 2019 to July 15, 2019.