The National financial website WalletHub said on Friday that Montana is the state with the fifth best unemployment rate recovery from the COVID 19 pandemic.

Staff attorney Jill Gonzalez provided details of the website’s research on unemployment recovery.

“This is a good thing,” said Gonzalez. “We’re essentially looking at the employment rates that are bouncing back the most. The good news for Montana is that it’s bouncing back the fifth quickest in terms of its unemployment rate.”

Gonzalez said Montana’s economy is not highly industrialized and its tourism, though important, is not as extensive as other states.

“A lot of it has to do with the industries in each state,” she said. “Montana has some sense of a tourism and travel industry, but not when compared to states like Florida or Nevada, it’s definitely a lot lower, so the industries that are there are able to get people back into factories or smaller local tourism, and that’s what’s happening in Montana right now.”

Gonzalez listed the best and worst states on the website’s list pertaining to employment bouncing back from the pandemic.

“The states doing even better than Montana right now include New Mexico, Arizona, Washington, D.C. and the best of all is Nebraska right now,” she said. “The states that need the most help right now are New Hampshire, Michigan, Nevada and Hawaii.”

 

Unemployment Recovery in Montana according to WalletHub;

 

(1=Most Recovered, 25=Avg.):

 

190.69% Change in Unemployment (May 2020 vs May 2019)

44,176 unemployed people in May 2020 vs 15,197 in May 2019; 14th best recovery in the U.S.

 

86.98% Change in Unemployment (May 2020 vs January 2020)

44,176 unemployed people in May 2020 vs 23,626 in January 2020; 6th best recovery in the U.S.

 

927.10% Change in Not Seasonally Adjusted Continued Claims (May 2020 vs May 2019)

49,917 continued claims in May 2020 vs 4,860 in May 2019; 7th best recovery in the U.S.

 

8.50% Unemployment Rate (May 2020); 3rd best recovery in the U.S.

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