Source: US Department of Labor.
Notes: Data are not seasonally adjusted. The start and end dates of Unemployment Insurance claims for prior recessions correspond to the economic downturn dates defined by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Since March 14, over 68 million Unemployment Insurance initial claims have been filed. Compared with prior economic downturns, this rapid spike in claims amid the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented. Unemployment Insurance claims for the nation are now much higher than at any point during the Great Recession and the 1990 and 2001 recessions.
We tracked each state’s Unemployment Insurance initial claims using the US Department of Labor’s data and compared them with total initial claims in three prior recessions. This tool displays weekly updates of Unemployment Insurance claims from mid-March 2020 through the end of the year.
Source: US Department of Labor.
Notes: Data are not seasonally adjusted. The start and end dates of Unemployment Insurance claims for prior recessions correspond to the economic downturn dates defined by the National Bureau of Economic Research.