(The Center Square) – Washington came in at No. 29 in the nation in terms of states where unemployment claims are increasing the most, according to a study released Thursday by WalletHub.
The personal finance website compared all 50 states and the District of Columbia by looking at changes in unemployment claims for several benchmark weeks and taking into account the number of claims per 100,000 people in the labor force.
WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez explained Washington’s ranking.
“Washington is the state with the 29th biggest increase in unemployment claims over the last week,” she reiterated in an email to The Center Square. “It is also the 17th state with the most claims per 100,000 people in labor force in the week of June 26.”
That’s not as bad as it may sound, Gonzalez cautioned.
“However, Washington’s unemployment claims only increased by 1.98% compared to the previous week, which is lower than the 5% national average,” she noted. “This indicates that Washington’s labor market might be affected by the Fed rate hikes, but fewer people are losing their jobs or experiencing work reductions on a weekly basis.”
Federal Reserve officials at their June meeting decided to hold off on raising interest rates, opting to pause to assess the impact of the 10 previous hikes meant to cool down inflation. The decision leaves the benchmark rate at a range of 5% to 5.25%.
Conventional wisdom is there will be more rate hikes ahead, but at a slower pace.
According to the state Employment Security Department, Washington’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is 4.1%, as compared to the 3.7% national unemployment rate.
Still, Washington fared better in WalletHub’s rankings than its Pacific Northwest neighbors Oregon and Idaho, which came in at No. 16 and No. 6, respectively.
The states where unemployment claims have increased the most since last week are:
1. Kentucky
2. Michigan
3. Ohio
4. Tennessee
5. Connecticut
6. Idaho
7. Indiana
8. Virginia
9. Rhode Island
10. Arkansas
The states and state designate where unemployment claims have increased the least since last week are:
51. District of Columbia
50. Delaware
49. Vermont
48. Maryland
47. New Hampshire
46. Colorado
45. Florida
44 Mississippi
43. Wyoming
42. North Dakota
