PA made strong recovery from unemployment, says WalletHub analyst

Pennsylvania is having a successful recovery from new unemployment claims, with last week’s claims lower than in the same week in 2019, according to WalletHub’s updated rankings for the States Whose Unemployment Claims Are Recovering the Quickest.

Key statistics:

Weekly unemployment claims in Pennsylvania decreased by 46.34% compared to the same week in 2019. This was the fifth biggest decrease in the U.S.

Weekly unemployment claims in Pennsylvania decreased by 71.53% compared to the start of 2020. This was the 4th biggest decrease in the U.S.

Weekly unemployment claims in Pennsylvania decreased by 75.66% compared to the same week last year. This was the 6th biggest decrease in the U.S.

To view the full report and your state’s rank, visit:

https://wallethub.com/edu/states-unemployment-claims/72730

“A potential recession would negatively affect unemployment significantly, so employees should start preparing for one ahead of time. The biggest worry for employees is the chance of layoffs,” said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub Analyst. “To safeguard against layoffs, people should make sure their rainy day funds can sustain at least 3-6 months of living without a job. If you see that your current savings don’t add up to that, now is the time to start prioritizing saving versus spending.”

What do you make of the fact that there are more job openings than there are unemployed Americans?

“Unemployment is really no longer an issue since the country has recovered from much of the fallout of the pandemic,” said Gonzalez., “The next step might be looking to open up immigration to fill the surplus of jobs nationwide. Doing so would not only help businesses meet their needs, but would also drive additional economic growth.”

Unemployment is now at its lowest since the pandemic started. What does this mean for the U.S. economy?

“The national unemployment rate fell to 3.6 percent last month, the lowest level since the prepandemic level of 3.5 percent. This means that decreasing Covid-19 cases brought on a high number of new jobs and new workers, which are both signs that the pandemic’s hold on the economy may also be decreasing,” said Gonzalez. “U.S. employers added over 390,000 jobs in May, continuing the streak of strong job growth we’ve been seeing for months. Job growth, in combination with less mask and vaccine mandates nationwide, should spur even more economic recovery.”

How do red states and blue states compare when it comes to new unemployment claims?

“With an average rank of 25 among the most recovered states, blue states had a better recovery from unemployment claims last week than red states, which rank 27 on average,” said Gonzalez. “The lower the number of the ranking, the bigger the state’s recovery was.”