Going South in the South

The worst economic hits from Covid-19 aren’t in the states with the most cases or deaths.

New York has been hit hard, but the economy there is big, robust, and better able to absorb the job losses than most of the rest of the country. WalletHub ranks it 43rd out of 50 states and the District of Columbia, where the #1 ranking is the poorest.

Who’s getting hit the hardest in terms of unemployment?

1. Louisiana — a 5,772% increase in unemployment compared to 2019 and 5,800% compared to January of this year, and with that, in many cases, loss of health insurance
2. North Carolina — a 6,065% increase over 2019 put a lesser 4,771% increase over January
3. Indiana
4. New Hampshire
5. Florida
6. Virginia
7. Michigan
8. Kentucky
9. New Mexico
10. Tennessee

Tennessee has a 2,963% increase since January. All of the numbers are fantastically high.

One of the things this illustrates is how dependent most inland states are on the coastal economies. New York sneezes and the Midwest and South feel the pain.

Sources:

1. https://www.benefitspro.com/2020/04/03/10-states-where-unemployment-is-rising-the-most/
2. https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-the-biggest-increase-in-unemployment-due-to-coronavirus/72730/#expert=chris-altizer