Historic Unemployment Claims
As more COVID-19 regulations are passed and businesses temporarily close their doors, the U.S. is seeing historic weekly unemployment benefit claims across all 50 states. In fact, the previous two weeks have seen nearly 9 million unemployment claims. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, roughly 5.6% of the U.S. civilian labor force has applied for unemployment benefits—as of March 28—which is higher than the peak unemployment of the Great Recession at 4.8%.
Unemployment Rates By State
| State | Unemployment Claims (Ending 3/28/20) |
State Unemployment Rate* |
| Alabama | 80,186 | 4.2% |
| Alaska | 14,523 | 7.5% |
| Arizona | 89,064 | 3.1% |
| Arkansas | 26,944 | 3.1% |
| California | 878,727 | 6.5% |
| Colorado | 60,784 | 2.6% |
| Connecticut | 33,182 | 6.0% |
| Delaware | 18,987 | 6.4% |
| Washington D.C. | 14,868 | 7.5% |
| Florida | 227,000 | 2.5% |
| Georgia | 132,386 | 4.6% |
| Hawaii | 48,861 | 8.9% |
| Idaho | 32,240 | 5.3% |
| Illinois | 178,133 | 4.9% |
| Indiana | 146,243 | 5.2% |
| Iowa | 58,453 | 6.5% |
| Kansas | 54,739 | 4.9% |
| Kentucky | 112,726 | 6.6% |
| Louisiana | 97,830 | 7.3% |
| Maine | 23,535 | 6.6% |
| Maryland | 83,536 | 4.0% |
| Massachusetts | 181,062 | 9.5% |
| Michigan | 311,086 | 8.2% |
| Minnesota | 109,896 | 8.9% |
| Mississippi | 30,946 | 3.1% |
| Missouri | 96,734 | 4.7% |
| Montana | 19,540 | 7.3% |
| Nebraska | 24,572 | 3.0% |
| Nevada | 71,419 | 8.2% |
| New Hampshire | 27,454 | 7.1% |
| New Jersey | 205,515 | 8.0% |
| New Mexico | 28,182 | 5.1% |
| New York | 366,403 | 7.2% |
| North Carolina | 170,881 | 4.8% |
| North Dakota | 12,591 | 5.6% |
| Ohio | 272,129 | 8.4% |
| Oklahoma | 44,970 | 3.8% |
| Oregon | 42,502 | 5.1% |
| Pennsylvania | 405,880 | 8.3% |
| Rhode Island | 28,067 | 10.9% |
| South Carolina | 64,856 | 4.0% |
| South Dakota | 6,645 | 2.2% |
| Tennessee | 94,492 | 3.9% |
| Texas | 275,597 | 3.0% |
| Utah | 28,560 | 3.2% |
| Vermont | 14,443 | 8.4% |
| Virginia | 114,104 | 3.5% |
| Washington | 187,501 | 8.8% |
| West Virginia | 14,166 | 4.8% |
| Wisconsin | 110,724 | 6.8% |
| Wyoming | 4,675 | 3.4% |
*U.S. Department of Labor; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; Tax Foundation calculations
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Paycor is publishing expert advice, webinars, articles and templates for SMB leaders navigating the COVID-19 public health emergency on our Coronavirus Support Center.
Paycor is working diligently to provide SMB leaders with the information they need throughout this public health crisis. That’s why every two weeks we’ll update this article to give readers insights into unemployment numbers in their state and throughout the U.S. so they can make better business decisions.