Dive Brief:
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Las Vegas experienced the highest increase of unemployment due to the coronavirus, according to a recent WalletHub analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data across 180 U.S. cities.
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The overall rankings were determined by averaging a city's "change in unemployment" ranking with its unemployment rate ranking. The 10 cities most affected by unemployment due to COVID-19 are:
| Rank | City | Unemployment growth (4/20 vs. 4/19) | Adjusted unemployment rate (4/20) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Las Vegas | 602.68% | 42.03% |
| 2 | North Las Vegas, NV | 573.92% | 43.23% |
| 3 | Detroit | 457.46% | 51.21% |
| 4 | Henderson, NV | 599.11% | 38.84% |
| 5 | Grand Rapids, MI | 690.00% | 36.04% |
| 6 | Burlington, VT | 933.90% | 19.95% |
| 7 | Honolulu | 658.77% | 26.60% |
| 8 | Fort Wayne, IN | 701.58% | 27.66% |
| 9 | South Burlington, VT | 833.94% | 17.82% |
| 10 | Manchester, NH | 658.66% | 26.60% |
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The cities with the lowest increase of unemployment due to coronavirus include: Juneau, AK; Washington, DC; Tallahassee, FL; Bridgeport, CT and New Haven, CT.
Dive Insight:
The U.S. has lost almost 41 million jobs — 25% of the workforce — since the pandemic began, eliminating employment strides made since the Great Recession. The analysis accounts for the Bureau of Labor Statistics' misclassification of temporary workers as "'absent from work because of other reasons' rather than 'unemployed,'" which could mean that the actual rate of unemployment is actually closer to 33%.
Many of the cities most affected by the coronavirus have economies that rely heavily on the tourism industry. Nevada, for example, was forced to close its 219 commercial casinos during the pandemic. And while casinos are now reopening, experts warn it could take up to 18 months to recover, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.
Orlando — home to the "Happiest Place on Earth" — is another major tourism hub upended by COVID-19. The Walt Disney World Resort furloughed 70,000 of its workers in April, while Universal Studios furloughed 27,000 workers. And nationally, the country’s unemployment rate within the leisure and hospitality "supersector" reached nearly 40% in April, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Detroit also ranked in a top spot for unemployment due to the local economy's reliance on auto manufacturing, with manufacturing making up 14% of the state's jobs. The state's spike in COVID-19 cases also resulted in strict quarantine guidelines, the Wall Street Journal reports, adding to the severity of the pandemic's effect on unemployment.
Beyond tourism, manufacturing and leisure industry hubs, the green jobs industry is another that has been rocked by the pandemic. Over 447,000 clean energy workers filed unemployment claims in April, adding up to over 600,000 workers or 17.8% of the workforce that have lost their jobs.
To keep up with all of our coverage on how the new coronavirus is impacting U.S. cities, visit our daily tracker.
