Democrats run nine of the 10 states with the highest jobless rates, The Wall Street Journal editorial board pointed out Sunday night in an editorial exploring how quickly states that instituted severe economic lockdowns are recovering.
TheWSJ’s editorial board said that the states with the highest jobless rates experienced the most severe restrictions during the pandemic. The Department of Labor reported Friday that the states with the most severe lockdowns are struggling to recover, the board noted.
The unemployment rate in May was 13%, data showed, yet 10 states are well above that number.
Nevada is at the top of the list at 25.3%, with Hawaii hitting 22.6%, Michigan coming in at 21.2%, while 16.3% of Californians, Rhode Islanders and Massachusetts citizens are unemployed. Delaware (15.8%), Illinois and New Jersey (15.2%), and Washington state (15.1%) round out the last of the states with numbers above 13%, data showed.
Michigan is a stark example of the impact of the lockdowns. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was adamant about keeping Michigan closed as her state experienced statistically higher rates of COVID-related deaths than many of the states. The Democratic governor said in May that she would “never apologize” for shutting down Michigan.
Volunteers give out groceries at a drive-thru Three Square Food Bank emergency food distribution site at Boulder Station Hotel & Casino. (Photo by DAVID BECKER/AFP via Getty Images)
TheWSJ editorial board also noted that the states below the national rate are red states. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Scientists, Economists Urge Trump To Bring On Statistician To Avoid Getting Duped By Bad Health Models)
Only 9.7% of people in Georgia, which was one of the first states to reopen following a prolonged lockdown, are unemployed. Arkansas has a 9.5% jobless rate, while Arizona, Utah and Nebraska are well below the national average. All of them are red states.
“[S]o far these numbers suggest a tale of two U.S. economies,” TheWSJ editorial board wrote. “States that are reopening faster are recovering faster and easing more economic suffering. The states that put a premium on trying to reduce the spread beyond the original purpose of protecting hospitals and the health-care system are lagging.”
The state-by-state lockdowns were implemented to slow the coronavirus outbreak, which originated in China before infecting more than 40 countries. The virus has reportedly killed more than 400,000 people worldwide, leaving a death toll of close to 120,000 people in the United States.
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