File photo
File photo
Democrats now stand in control of nine of the 10 states that are home to the country’s highest unemployment rates.
According to the Wall Street Journal, those states that enacted the most severe restrictions amid their state’s emergency shutdown orders and are showing few signs of economic recovery.
“States that are reopening faster are recovering faster and easing more economic suffering,” the Journal added. “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 report lists the struggling states as Nevada, Hawaii, Michigan, California, Rhode Island, Delaware, Illinois, New Jersey and Washington, all of whom have an average unemployment rate of greater than 15% or more than two full points better than than national average of 13% during the month of May.
By contrast, the Republican-led states of Georgia and Arkansas both have rates below 10%, and Arizona, Utah and Nebraska all have rates that fall below the national average of 13%.
“So far, these numbers suggest a tale of two U.S. economies,” the editorial board added.
In addition, a recent WalletHub analysis found that South Dakota, Wisconsin, Utah, South Carolina, North Dakota, Missouri, Iowa, Idaho, Oklahoma and Wyoming all rank among the state’s with the fewest coronavirus restrictions based on 16 different metrics used to set the ratings.
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