In 2018, unemployment in the United States was at a 49-year low, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, this quickly changed: With both permanent and temporary closures of businesses across the country, the U.S. unemployment rate jumped from 3.7% in 2019 up to 8.1% in 2020.
As we covered in our blog reviewing unemployment rate trends pre-, mid-, and post-pandemic, by 2022 the national unemployment rate was “sitting the lowest it had been in the past five years [2019-2022]”, maintaining that same rate of 3.6% into 2023.
SHADAC recently updated our “Unemployment Rate” measure on State Health Compare with 2024 unemployment data from the BLS. As we discussed in our previous blog, unemployment affects individuals’ access to stable housing, food security, and health insurance coverage and care. Unemployment has also been linked to negative health consequences, with unemployed individuals often reporting feelings of depression and anxiety, and suffering from stress-related illness such as high blood pressure, stroke, heart attack, heart disease, and arthritis more often compared to employed counterparts.
Knowing that unemployment affects health and health care access, we wanted to explore how unemployment has changed in 2024 using the updated data on State Health Compare. Keep reading to see how unemployment has changed over time as well as by state and by race/ethnicity.
National Unemployment in 2024 Increased for the First Time Since 2020
As we can see in the trend graph below, in the last five years the U.S. unemployment rate peaked at 8.1% in 2020 before declining in 2021 and 2022, maintaining a 3.6% unemployment rate through 2023. Notably, for the first time since 2019 to 2020, 2024 saw an increase in national unemployment from 2023, with a 0.4PP increase to 4.0%.
Figure 1. United States Unemployment Rate 2019-2024
After a consistent pattern of decreasing or steady unemployment, this increase, while slight compared to the pandemic-related spike in 2020, shouldn’t be ignored.
Examining Variation in State Unemployment Rates
In 2024, unemployment ranged from 1.8% in South Dakota to 5.6% in Nevada. The five states with the highest rates of unemployment were Illinois, Kentucky, Washington, D.C., California, and Nevada. The five states with the lowest rates of unemployment were Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Vermont, and South Dakota.
When examining the change in unemployment rate from 2023 to 2024 among the states, the majority (43) followed the national trend of seeing their unemployment rate increase between the two years. Just four states (AZ, CT, DE, SD) decreased their unemployment rates with another four maintaining theirs (HI, MS, VA, WI).
Table 1 shows how the states with the highest and lowest unemployment rates in 2024 changed from 2023. All of these states (except for South Dakota) saw increases in their unemployment rates, whether they were in the group with the highest or the lowest unemployment rates. This could indicate a generally consistent trend of increasing unemployment across states, regardless of unemployment levels in 2023.
Table 1. State Unemployment Rates and Percentage Point Change, 2023-2024
State | Unemployment Rate, 2023 (%) | Unemployment Rate, 2024 (%) | Change (PP) |
|---|---|---|---|
South Dakota | 2.0 | 1.8 | -0.2 |
Vermont | 2.0 | 2.3 | 0.3 |
North Dakota | 1.9 | 2.4 | 0.5 |
New Hampshire | 2.2 | 2.6 | 0.4 |
Nebraska | 2.3 | 2.8 | 0.5 |
United States | 3.6 | 4.0 | 0.4 |
Illinois | 4.5 | 5.0 | 0.5 |
Kentucky | 4.2 | 5.1 | 0.9 |
District of Columbia (D.C.) | 4.9 | 5.2 | 0.3 |
California | 4.8 | 5.3 | 0.5 |
Nevada | 5.1 | 5.6 | 0.5 |
Unemployment in 2024 by Race/Ethnicity
As we have seen in previous blogs and analyses, disaggregating unemployment data by race/ethnicity can reveal disparities that might not be hidden when looking at overall statistics. Let’s take a look at one of the states with the highest unemployment rates and one of the states with the lowest unemployment rates to see how different populations are experiencing unemployment in different environments.
Let’s start with Nevada, the state with the highest unemployment rate in 2024 at 5.6%. Recall from the table above that when we look at the state overall, unemployment rose by 0.5PP between 2023 and 2024. Now, let’s look at unemployment rates for different subpopulations in Nevada.
Figure 2. Nevada Unemployment Rate 2019-2024 by Race/Ethnicity
Disaggregating this data on State Health Compare reveals that while the state overall saw an increase in unemployment, this wasn’t mirrored for all racial/ethnic groups. While White and Hispanic/Latino communities in Nevada both saw increases from 2023 to 2024 (0.7PP and 0.6PP), the Asian population saw a 1.7PP drop in unemployment and the African American/Black population in the state saw an over 2.0PP drop (2.2PP) in unemployment between the two years.
Now, let’s look to the other end of the spectrum at Virginia, one of the states with the lowest unemployment rates in the nation at 2.9% in 2024 that has enough sample to look by race/ethnicity.
Figure 3. Virginia Unemployment Rate 2019-2024 by Race/Ethnicity
As with Nevada, we can see that breaking down Virginia’s overall unemployment rate by race/ethnicity reveals differences between groups. In Virginia, the African-American/Black population and the Asian population both saw increases in unemployment from 2023 to 2024 (0.5PP and 1.0PP, respectively). Alternatively, Hispanic/Latino and White populations both saw decreases in unemployment over the same time period (down 0.4PP and 0.1PP, respectively).
Breaking down data into subpopulations and by different characteristics can reveal inequities or differences that aren’t apparent in the overall data. Having a better understanding of how different populations are impacted by current trends and influences can help to better target programs and resources.
Conclusion
Unemployment has many impacts on individuals and communities beyond just economic impacts. Unemployment can impact access to stable housing, food security, and overall wellbeing and mental health impacts. Not only that, but seeing as the majority of people in the U.S. rely on their job to obtain health insurance (called employer-sponsored insurance or ESI), unemployment can have health care coverage and access implications as well.
With recent changes to the federal health insurance landscape, like the implementation of work requirements for public coverage and the potential ending of enhanced premium tax credits, lack of access to ESI could result in even greater economic and coverage impacts for those who are unemployed.
It's also important to recognize that there are disparities in unemployment rates by race/ethnicity in many states, which means that the implications described above could have a disproportionate impact on specific communities. This is essential to keep in mind as we work to understand the public and population health impacts of increasing unemployment combined with an uncertain future for the health insurance landscape in the U.S.
Curious about other factors impacting public health and health policy? You can explore over 40 measures from 15 different data sources on State Health Compare, downloading data and creating custom visualizations to do your own analysis.
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