Map Shows Where Layoffs Are Hitting Key Swing States

Initial unemployment claims for the week ending April 13 were unchanged from the prior week, coming in at 212,000, according to data from the U.S. Labor Department, while the unadjusted number of claims from states revealed that applications were down about 6,700.

In states where experts said may be key to deciding the 2024 presidential election, the picture was more nuanced.

The states Newsweek looked at are closely contested by President Joe Biden and presumptive Republican nominee former President Donald Trump. Voters have suggested in polls that the economy is one of the top issues when deciding who to vote for in a presidential election.

Arizona saw a slight tick up by 57 in initial claims filed during the week ending April 13, while Nevada saw a rise of about 357, Georgia was up about 1,200 and Michigan dropped by nearly 400. Pennsylvania claims went down by close to 1,650 and Wisconsin also experienced a substantial decline of nearly 1,800 claims.

Workers apply for jobless benefits after a “separation” from a company, which means that their employment has ended and may mean that they were laid off. Unadjusted claims suggests that they are yet to fully account for some seasonal fluctuations, meaning that they may be revised.

A Biden campaign spokesperson told Newsweek in a statement that unemployment was down in swing states.

“Across swing states, unemployment is near record lows because Joe Biden’s economic policies are working,” they said. “This is the great American comeback we have seen under President Biden: 15 million new jobs, unemployment under 4 percent for the longest stretch in 50 years, and rising wages.”

Newsweek contacted the Trump campaign for comment via email on Thursday.

The labor market in swing states has recovered from the economic crisis of the COVID era. In Arizona, the unemployment rate was at 4.1 percent, slightly lower than the national rate of 3.9 percent in February. The jobless rate soared to 14 percent at the height of the pandemic. It’s also lower than in March 2020, when the unemployment rate was close to 5 percent, according to Federal Reserve Economic Data.

Nevada’s job market was one of the hardest hit by the pandemic. The unemployment rate skyrocketed to more than 30 percent. Since January 2022, it has stabilized to a little more than a 5 percent jobless rate. Georgia’s unemployment rate of 3.1 percent is lower than the national rate and way down from the more than 12 percent after the pandemic brought the U.S. economy to a standstill.

Michigan, which also was deeply affected by COVID, saw the unemployment rate shoot up to more than 22 percent. In February, that figure was at 4.2 percent. Pennsylvania’s jobless rate was also significantly lower than during the height of the pandemic—3.4 percent in February compared to 16 percent in April 2020. Wisconsin had an unemployment rate of 3 percent, much lower than the April 2020 rate of 14 percent.