Advertisement
Canada markets close in 3 hours 38 minutes

  • S&P/TSX

    22,016.01
    +144.05 (+0.66%)
     

  • S&P 500

    5,067.48
    +56.88 (+1.14%)
     

  • DOW

    38,478.13
    +238.15 (+0.62%)
     

  • CAD/USD

    0.7314
    +0.0012 (+0.17%)
     

  • CRUDE OIL

    82.89
    +0.99 (+1.21%)
     

  • Bitcoin CAD

    91,240.54
    +429.35 (+0.47%)
     

  • CMC Crypto 200

    1,433.97
    +19.21 (+1.36%)
     

  • GOLD FUTURES

    2,339.00
    -7.40 (-0.32%)
     

  • RUSSELL 2000

    2,000.80
    +33.33 (+1.69%)
     

  • 10-Yr Bond

    4.5880
    -0.0350 (-0.76%)
     

  • NASDAQ

    15,685.08
    +233.78 (+1.51%)
     

  • VOLATILITY

    16.31
    -0.63 (-3.72%)
     

  • FTSE

    8,044.81
    +20.94 (+0.26%)
     

  • NIKKEI 225

    37,552.16
    +113.55 (+0.30%)
     

  • CAD/EUR

    0.6833
    -0.0017 (-0.25%)
     
MARKETS LIVE BLOG:

STOCKS EXTEND GAINS AS RESULTS SEASON KICKS INTO HIGH GEAR

Tech-focused investors prepare for fresh wave of earnings highlighted by struggling Tesla

States with the highest unemployment one year after the COVID-19 pandemic began

Zack Guzman
·Senior Writer
·2 min read

One year after the World Health Organization officially declared the coronavirus crisis a pandemic, Americans are still filing unemployment applications at a pace faster than during the Great Recession.

While all states have seen unemployment applications recede from record highs after the coronavirus pandemic first roiled America’s employment picture last spring, some have suffered stubbornly high job losses months into the recovery.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s latest report, which breaks out the insured unemployment rate (a ratio of people on unemployment benefits divided by labor force) at the state level through Feb. 20, Pennsylvania led all states with a rate of 6.2%. Alaska followed at 5.9%, while Nevada and Connecticut rounded out the top four states with insured unemployment rates at 5.5% and 5.4%, respectively.

All of the top-listed states are suffering higher insured unemployment rates relative to the national average of 3.1% for the same week.

As Yahoo Finance highlighted earlier in February, Hawaii has mounted an incredible employment recovery since it instituted COVID-19 testing and travel restrictions last October. The state once led the nation with an insured unemployment rate higher than 20%, but has since seen that drop to below 4.5%.

ADVERTISEMENT

Generally, even the worst states are starting to approach their pre-pandemic levels. Back then, Alaska topped the nation with a similar unemployment rate at just 2.9%. As high as the unemployment rates are now in the hardest hit states, they have still drastically improved from peaks seen months prior. Nevada, for example, has seen its unemployment rate improve 21 percentage points, down to about 5% from 27%, during the week ended May 9.

Zack Guzman is an anchor for Yahoo Finance Live as well as a senior writer covering entrepreneurship, cannabis, startups, and breaking news at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @zGuz.

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance

Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, SmartNews, LinkedIn, YouTube, and reddit.

Find live stock market quotes and the latest business and finance news

For tutorials and information on investing and trading stocks, check out Cashay