NC ranks just No. 43 among states for ‘quickest recovery’ since start of COVID-19

RALEIGH — Hoping for a quick job recovery in North Carolina? Think again.

WalletHub just released updated rankings for the “States Whose Weekly Unemployment Claims Are Recovering the Quickest,” and North Carolina ranked a measly No. 43 among states with the quickest recovery.

In fact, it made the list for states “least recovered” — both in the last week and since the crisis began in early March. Meanwhile, states leading the way include Oregon, which nabbed the top spot, followed by West Virginia, Vermont, Pennsylvania and Wyoming.

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.

Comparing the same period between March 16 to October 5 this year to the year prior, North Carolina’s unemployment claims skyrocketed by 1522%. Meanwhile, unemployment claims spiked 492.18% in the week of October 5 this year compared to the same period a year prior.

Nationwide, new unemployment claims increased slightly week-over-week on October 5, but still far below the peak of the pandemic.

There are currently 12.6 million Americans unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in total. Last week, there were 898,000 new unemployment claims nationwide, which is a lot fewer than the 6.9 million during the peak of the pandemic (an 87% reduction), the report said.

This shows shows that country is a “saw-toothed shaped recovery,” the report said.

To see the full report, go here.