New York Claims 44% More Unemployment Benefits Than National Average

A new study has revealed the states with the most unemployment benefits claims, with New Jersey taking the top spot.

AI productivity platform Plus, analyzed 2024 data from the United States Department of Labor on unemployment insurance claims in each state between 04/13/2024 and 04/20/2024. The total number of claims was measured against the total number of eligible workers per state to calculate the rate per 100,000 residents. The states with the highest rate of claims determined the ranking.

New Jersey ranks at the top, with 2,504 unemployment benefits claims per 100,000 eligible workers. From a total of 4,147,212 workers, New Jersey had 103,861 unemployment claims which equates to 2.5% of the working population.

Coming in second place is California, with 2,312 claims for unemployment benefits per 100,000. The state had 410,557 claims from a total of 17,756,991 eligible workers which equates to 2.31%.

Third in the ranking is Rhode Island, with 1,906 benefits claims for every 100,000 workers. Rhode Island had a total of 475,226 eligible workers and 9,059 unemployment insurance claims; equating to 1.91% of the working population.

Illinois places fourth, with 1,852 unemployment benefits claims per 100,000 eligible workers. From 5,918,407 workers, the state experienced 109,632 unemployment claims which equates to 1.85%.

In fifth comes Minnesota, with 1,845 claims for unemployment benefits per 100,000. Minnesota had 52,395 claims from a total of 2,839,401 eligible workers which equates to 1.85% of the working population.

Massachusetts comes in an incredibly close sixth, with 1,844 benefits claims for every 100,000 workers – only one claim less than Minnesota. Massachusetts had 3,588,386 eligible workers and 66,182 unemployment insurance claims; equating to 1.84%.

Seventh on the list is New York, with 1,737 unemployment benefits claims per 100,000 eligible workers. From 9,318,874 workers, the state reported 161,859 unemployment claims which equates to 1.74% of the working population.

In eighth place is Washington, with 1,700 claims for unemployment benefits per 100,000. Washington had 59,425 claims from 3,496,172 eligible workers which equates to 1.7%.

Alaska ranks ninth, with 1,579 benefits claims for every 100,000 workers. Alaska had 305,550 eligible workers and 4,824 unemployment insurance claims; equating to 1.58% of the working population.

Landing the tenth spot is Nevada, with 1,558 unemployment benefits claims per 100,000 eligible workers – just 21 less than Alaska. From 1,465,363 workers, the state experienced 22,827 unemployment claims which equates to 1.56%.

Kansas had the lowest rate of unemployment benefit claims, at 325 per 100,000 residents. Kansas had 4,511 claims from 1,385,977 eligible workers; equating to 0.33% of the working population.

Daniel Li, CEO and cofounder of Plus commented on the findings: “It’s interesting to see states from all corners of the US make the top ten. Neither the East nor West dominate the rankings which suggests that unemployment is experienced evenly across the country.

“It’ll be curious to see if this balanced spread continues or if certain regions start to prevail in the future.”

This study was conducted by Plus, an AI productivity platform based in America.

Methodology: 2024 data from the United States Department of Labor on unemployment insurance claims between 04/13/2024 and 04/20/2024 was analyzed in each US state. Data on the working population per state was also sourced from the United States Department of Labor.  

The number of claims was weighed against the total number of eligible workers to calculate the amount per 100,000.  

The states with the highest number of claims per 100,000 workers determined the final ranking.  

Insurance benefit claims per 100,000 eligible workers by US state