Unemployment Claims In Alabama Down From 2020: Study

MONTGOMERY, AL — After 2020 saw a significant spike in unemployment claims in Alabama, brought on largely by the COVID-19 pandemic, the state's number of claims have decreased by nearly 50 percent, according to a recent study.

A study by financial wellness website WalletHub shows the number of unemployment claims in Alabama is 49.69 percent lower than at this point last year. However, this still ranks Alabama among the states slowest to recover from the pandemic's effects on employment.

The WalletHub study also shows weekly unemployment claims in Alabama decreased by 25.67 percent compared to the start of 2020. This was the 19th smallest decrease in the U.S.

To identify which states’ workforces are experiencing the quickest recovery from COVID-19, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on changes in unemployment claims for several key benchmark weeks.

The five states that have recovered the quickest:

1. Virginia
2. Arkansas
3. North Dakota
4. Delaware
5. Georgia

The states recovering the slowest:

1. District of Columbia
2. Kentucky
3. New Mexico
4. Tennessee
5. Michigan

Twenty-three states had unemployment claims last week that were lower than before the pandemic: Arkansas, Virginia, North Dakota, West Virginia, South Carolina, Delaware, Montana, Vermont, Colorado, Arizona, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Wyoming, Kansas, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Washington, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Ohio, Maryland and New Jersey.

Read the full WalletHub study of the States with the Quickest Unemployment Rate Recovery on wallethub.com.