The U.S. has gained 431,000 jobs in March 2022 (and the unemployment rate declined to 3.6 percent). An encouraging sign of economic recovery but below the previous month’s 750,000 jobs gain.
While jobs have grown, the average hourly earnings are flat (although they are up 5.1 percent year-on-year). People are also working a little more, with the average workweek rising to 34.7 hours.
To dig deeper into these headline figures, the finance site WalletHub has released rankings for the “States Whose Unemployment Rates Are Bouncing Back Most”.
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 six key metrics that compare unemployment rate statistics from the latest month for which data is available (March 2022) to key dates in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Metrics included the number of unemployment insurance initial claims.
Looking at the outcomes, the States with the greatest jobs recovery are:
- Nebraska
- Indiana
- Montana
- Utah
- Kansas
- Minnesota
- New Hampshire
- Oklahoma
- Arizona
- Alabama
Whereas the States that have shown the weakest jobs growth are:
- Texas
- Illinois
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- California
- Massachusetts
- Maryland
- New Mexico
- Hawaii
- District of Columbia
In terms of how struggling States can reverse the trend and leading States can sustain economic growth, there are associated areas that local government should be focusing on says Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes, Professor of Economics – University of California, Merced. These measures include:
- Continue to offer remote work opportunities, which have provided great flexibility.
- Make sure schools remain open.
- Offer free or subsidized childcare to help mothers go back to work.
- Provide better work benefits, as an incentive for those not in the workforce to join in.
The most resilient industries are led by the technology sector.
