43 states broke their unemployment records in April

Forty-three states recorded their highest unemployment rate since the government began tracking the data in 1939, CNN reports based on federal numbers released Friday. Nevada had the highest overall unemployment rate in the country, at 28.2 percent, up from 3.6 in February before the pandemic shutdowns.

The other two states to top 20 percent unemployment in April were Michigan and Hawaii, at 22.7 percent and 22.3 percent respectively. Those states saw particularly high numbers because of their reliance on tourism, in the case of Nevada and Hawaii, and the fact that the auto plants in Michigan were closed during the worst of the outbreak.

Seven states recorded unemployment below 10 percent, MarketWatch reports, with Connecticut the lowest with only 7.9 percent. But CNN cautions that there were errors in the robustness of data collection as well as how that data was classified. Connecticut in particular included a note "that said the federal data must be considered 'inaccurate' and 'severely underestimated.' Instead, the state estimates its true unemployment rate to be around 17.5 percent."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up