States with the Most Affected Businesses and Unemployment Due to Coronavirus

Unemployment numbers updated with the most current data available on 4/23/20.

We all know that the coronavirus crisis has significantly affected the U.S. economy with many small businesses shutting their doors and even more people unemployed. But which states are seeing the biggest impacts to unemployment and small businesses? WalletHub conducted research to find out, and we’re sharing the results below.

RELATED READING: Coronavirus Financial and Other Resources for Struggling Small Businesses

States with the Most Affected Small Businesses Due to Coronavirus

A team at WalletHub researched all 50 states and the District of Columbia and compared them based on 12 key metrics. Each state was ranked in three areas: impact and access to resources, small business financial conditions, and business environment and workforce support conditions. Those scores were put together to come up with a total score for each state.

Based on the data, the states with the most affected small businesses due to coronavirus in April 2020 are:

In a separate small business owner survey, WalletHub discovered that small businesses are not getting the help they need. The survey found:

• 87% of small businesses are hurting due to the COVID-19 crisis.
• 35% of small businesses can survive for less than three months in current conditions.
• 65% of small businesses can survive for less than six months in current conditions.
•  76% of small businesses can survive for less than 12 months in current conditions.
• 68% of small business owners do not believe the federal government is doing enough to help them.
• 56% of small business owners believe the federal government is doing too much to help big businesses.
• 67% of small businesses have laid off employees as a result of COVID-19.
• 64% of small businesses plan to lay off employees in the future as a result of COVID-19.
• 65% of small businesses have furloughed employees as a result of COVID-19.
• 63% of small business owners will seek funds from the federal government’s coronavirus relief package.

The numbers are grim and the future remains very uncertain for small businesses across the country.

States with the Most Affected Unemployment Due to Coronavirus

WalletHub conducted research to analyze unemployment claim rates across all 50 states and the District of Columbia through the week of April 13, 2020 compared to the same time in 2019. Of course, unemployment numbers have surged even higher throughout April 2020 and many people still can’t submit unemployment claims because states’ systems aren’t working effectively (e.g., Florida), but the data from the research report is still eye-opening.

Based on the data, the states most affected by the coronavirus in terms of unemployment claim increases compared to the same time last year (as of the week of April 13, 2020) are:

The report points out that between the week of March 16, 2020 and the week of April 13, 2020, 22.7 million unemployment claims were filed across the U.S. That means the number of job losses due to coronavirus in those five weeks was more than 2.5x larger than the total job losses during the Great Recession. The gap is even larger today with millions more people filing unemployment claims (and still trying to file them) as the weeks continue to pass with the economy closed.

How has your business or job been affected by the coronavirus? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts.

Originally published 4/15/20. Updated 4/23/20.

Susan Gunelius

Susan Gunelius is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Women on Business. She is a 30-year veteran of the marketing field and has authored a dozen books about marketing, branding, and social media, including the highly popular Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing, 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing for Dummies, Blogging All-in-One for Dummies and Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps. Susan’s marketing-related content can be found on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, and more. Susan is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She has worked in corporate marketing roles and through client relationships with AT&T, HSBC, Citibank, Intuit, The New York Times, Cox Communications, and many more large and small companies around the world. Susan also speaks about marketing, branding and social media at events around the world and is frequently interviewed by television, online, radio, and print media organizations about these topics. She holds an MBA in Management and Strategy and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and is a Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).

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