How's Your State Doing?

         So, how bad is the unemployment rate around the US? At some point during the pandemic, I've read how it was at Great Depression level (over 20%). That number has since came down. In fact, if you searched around the internet, it would say it's around 10%. And from various sources, they say that a normal rate is around 4%- 6%.

         For reference, please visit https://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm

         Checking out the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, it's easy to see that not all states are in the same boat. Some of them have stayed pretty consistent in terms of the unemployment rate. The pandemic definitely affected them, but not as much compared to others.

         While the rate for my state (Utah) seems to be in the healthy range, I can't say it hasn't affected people I know. I have friends in the medical field that fell under hard times due to COVID. Once you get out of the Rockies, that rate starts to pick up.

         On the other end, we have the states that have rate much higher than the current average of 10%. The bottom 10 starts out at rank 42 because Alaska and Rhode Island tied at rank 40.

         Looking at the names alone, I can already see someone extrapolate based on red/blue states. It would also seem that areas with stricter lockdown policies has greater unemployment.

         It's worth noting that the stats here do take a person's residency into account. So, a person may work in another state, but their legal residence is elsewhere.

         This is not so uncommon back where I'm from in the East Coast. I've had teachers who lived in Delaware and came to work in Pennsylvania . There were folks from Maryland and New Jersey there as well. As to how much that'd skew the statistics? Who knows.

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         Bottom line is, where I'm living is doing okay for the moment. Is yours?

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