Wallethub recently released information regarding June’s jobs report, which showed a slight slowdown in growth. While the economy gained 372,000 nonfarm payroll jobs, it was a decrease from the 384,000 in May.
Other than the difference in nonfarm jobs, there were notable gains in sectors such as professional and business service, healthcare, and leisure and hospitality. Currently, the U.S. unemployment rate sits at 3.6%, which is the same percentage that it been at for several months.
“We have come a long way from the nearly historic high of 14.7% in April 2020,” shared WalletHub. “Due to a combination of vaccinations and states removing restrictions.”
However, the rate of inflation coupled with the potential of a recession comes with the threat of pushing the unemployment rate higher again. This threat comes with the possibility that Federal Reserve rate increases will not be able to stave them off.
With this information, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia, comparing six key metrics for unemployment rate statistics. These were taken from the latest month in which data is available, which was June, and was then put up against key dates within the last four years.
Through this research, it showed that the state of Utah is the seventh best for the unemployment rate change, coming in at 2.0%. Minnesota was ranked on top at 1.8% and the District of Columbia was the worst at 5.5%.
It was stated by a WalletHub analyst that, unfortunately, the most recent jobs report shows that more gains in the country is not necessarily good news for the economy as a whole. Following the issue report, it was announced that another rate hike in July was supported.
“Rising inflation has a direct impact on unemployed people. Finding a job right away is critical as costs continue to increase and a recession looms in the horizon,” said WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez. “The good news is that there are jobs out there for the taking. Jobs in logistics, dining and hospitality are very much in demand right now, so those fields might be good places to start.”