May 13: Weekly U.S. Unemployment Update Amid COVID-19

Thanks to our data partner, Applied Geographic Solutions, we’re offering free unemployment data as a layer in SiteSeer. We’ll be updating the top metropolitan and micropolitan areas in the country every week here on the SiteSeer blog. Want to learn more? Contact us!

Here’s a look at what happened between the weeks ended 4/27/20 and 5/2/20:

Metropolitan Areas with the Highest Unemployment:

This is the list of the week’s metro areas with the highest unemployment rate:

#20: Muskegon, Michigan | 39.31% (#9 last week)

#19: Albany, Georgia | 39.78% (new to the top 20 this week)

#18: Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Georgia | 40.09% (new to the top 20 this week)

#17: Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, Nevada | 40.22% (#7 last week)

#16: Elizabethtown-Fort Knox, Kentucky | 40.28% (#19 last week)

#15: Hammond, Louisiana | 40.47% (#13 last week)

#14: Columbus, Georgia-Alabama | 40.81% (new to the top 20 this week)

#13: Savannah, Georgia | 41.30% (#20 last week)

#12: Brunswick, Georgia | 41.59% (#18 last week)

#11: Macon-Bibb County, Georgia | 41.72% (#16 last week)

#10: Warner Robins, Georgia | 41.78% (#17 last week)

#9: Lexington, Fayette, Kentucky | 41.96% (#12 last week)

#8: Owensboro, Kentucky | 42.40% (#8 last week)

#7: Rome, Georgia | 42.74% (#14 last week)

#6: Bowling Green, Kentucky | 43.68% (#4 last week)

#5: Gainesville, Georgia | 43.87% (#6 last week)

#4: Valdosta, Georgia | 44.39% ((#5 last week)

#3: Athens-Clarke County, Georgia | 45.55% (#3 last week)

#2: Dalton, Georgia | 46.99% (#2 last week)

#1: Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina (Maui), Hawaii | 48.09% (#1 last week)

A few notes:

• All metro areas in the top 20 exceed 39% unemployment | Unemployment is soaring across the country. Even in areas faring better like South Dakota and Utah, unemployment is north of 10%. And in the hard-hit tourist states like Hawaii, it’s broaching 50%.
• Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina (Maui), Hawaii | This metropolitan area has held the top spot since we started tracking this data—last week it came in with the highest unemployment rate, 44.85%. They take the top spot again this week, at 48.09%.
• The top 5 is largely unchanged | As you can see, the top several spots are similar, with a slight shuffle. Bowling Green, Kentucky, moved from #4 last week to #6 this week, with Gainesville, Georgia, taking the #5 spot.
• Georgia dominates the top 20 | Like last week, there are many metro areas in Georgia in the top 20. This week, it’s 12 of the top 20 metropolitan areas, as compared to nine last week.
• Michigan (almost) disappears from the top 20 | The last two weeks, Michigan was all over the top 20. This week, there is only one metro areas in the top 20—which merely shows that other areas in the U.S. are struggling just as much (unemployment > 30%).

Biggest Metropolitan Movers:

• Enid, Oklahoma, topped the list this week for biggest jump—a 25% increase. There are several Oklahoma metro areas that increased substantially, including Oklahoma City (25% increase), Tulsa (24% increase) and Lawton (24% increase).
• The top 20 movers for the week include metro areas from Georgia, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Alabama and Maryland.

Micropolitan Areas with the Highest Unemployment:

This is the list of the week’s micropolitan areas with the highest unemployment rate:

#20: St. Marys, Georgia | 41.2% (new to the top 20 this week)

#19: Thomaston, Georgia | 41.3% (#20 last week)

#18 (tied): Marquette, Michigan | 41.4% (#4 last week, tied) and Calhoun, Georgia | 41.4% (new to the top 20 this week)

#17: Mount Pleasant, Michigan | 41.5% (#4 last week)

#16: Hilo, Hawaii | 41.7% (#5 last week)

#15 (tied): Douglas, Georgia | 41.9% and Cornelia, Georgia | 41.9% (both #18 last week, tied)

#14: Thomasville, Georgia | 42.0% (#17 last week)

#13: Campbellsville, Kentucky | 42.1% (#13 last week)

#12: Glasgow, Kentucky | 42.3% (#12 last week)

#11: Middlesborough, Kentucky | 42.4% (#11 last week, tied)

#10: Danville, Kentucky | 42.4% (#11 last week, tied)

#9: Somerset, Kentucky | 42.6% (#10 last week)

#8: London, Kentucky | 42.9% (#8 last week)

#7 (tied): Richmond-Berea, Kentucky | 43.1% (#7 last week) and LaGrange, Georgia | 43.1% (#14 last week)

#6: Mount Sterling, Kentucky | 43.2% (#6 last week)

#5: Cedartown, Georgia | 44.6% (#5 last week)

#4: Murray, Kentucky | 44.9% (#3 last week)

#3: Statesboro, Georgia | 45.2% (new to the top 20 this week)

#2: Cordele, Georgia | 46.2% (#2 last week)

#1: Kapaa (Kauai), Hawaii | 51.7% (#1 last week)

A few notes:

• Kauai’s Kapaa exceeds 50% | Hawaii’s Kapaa reached a stunning 51.7% unemployment this week.
• Similar micro areas to last week | Most of this week’s top 20 was on the list last week, with the exception of Statesboro, Georgia, which jumped to 45.2% this week from 39.5%, and St. Marys, Georgia, which went from 35.9% to 41.2%.
• Hard-hit micropolitan areas surpass 40% unemployment | All the micropolitan areas in the top 20 are 40% or higher.

Biggest Micropolitan Movers:

• This week, the micropolitan area with the biggest jump since last week was Stillwater, Oklahoma, which went from 25.4% to 31.9% unemployment, a 25% increase. It is tied with several other Oklahoma micro areas that also rose 25% over the week, including:
  • Weatherford
  • Elk city
  • Ada
  • Durant
  • Guymon
  • Miami
  • Altus

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