Effects of pandemic on employment in states

Bob Weeks

on

July 21, 2020

The effects of the response to the pandemic vary widely among the states, but federal government employment has been little affected.

In the nearby examples from my interactive visualization of state employment by industry, we can see a pattern:

Private-sector employment is rebounding after a dip. Employment in June as compared to January ranges from negative 18.7 percent in Hawaii to negative 3.6 percent in Idaho. For the nation, June employment is 10.0 percent below January.
Federal government employment was affected very little by the response to the pandemic.
In most states, state government employment fell, and recovery — or not — varies widely by state. Employment in June as compared to January ranges from negative 19.4 percent in Wisconsin to 10.5 percent in Nevada. For the nation, the decline is 5.3 percent.
Local government employment fell in all states and has improved in most. Employment in June as compared to January ranges from negative 15.1 percent in Connecticut to 2.1 percent in Tennessee. For the nation, the decline is 8.1 percent.

To learn more and explore the data, visit the interactive visualization at Visualization: Employment in the states.

This data is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, part of the United States Department of Labor. Data is current through June. BLS plans to release July data for these series on August 21.