Apr 17, 2020 - Economy

Coronavirus job losses equal to the cumulative workforce of 23 states

Rashaan Ayesh

Unemployment application — Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Roughly 22 million Americans have lost their jobs amid the coronavirus shutdown over the past four weeks — a figure that roughly equals the cumulative workforce of 23 states, as noted by the New York Times' Peter Baker.

Why it matters: The U.S. has lost more jobs in the past month than it has gained in the 11 years since the end of the Great Recession, leaving a huge swath of the country financially vulnerable during a pandemic.

The total workforce of each of the 23 states, per Feb. 2020 labor force figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

Alaska: 345,222
Arkansas: 1,367,278
Connecticut: 1,930,492
Delaware: 489,107
Hawaii: 669,073
Idaho: 891,650
Iowa: 1,752,764
Kansas: 1,496,507
Maine: 695,024
Mississippi: 1,276,525
Montana: 537,323
Nebraska: 1,042,417
Nevada: 1,559,531
New Hampshire: 779,489
New Mexico: 961,708
North Dakota: 404,494
Oklahoma: 1,844,281
Rhode Island: 558,452
South Dakota: 467,060
Utah: 1,630,696
Vermont: 340,147
West Virginia: 806,517
Wyoming: 294,173

The total: 22,139,920

Go deeper: U.S. likely lost more jobs in 4 weeks than it gained in 11 years

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Coronavirus job losses equal to the cumulative workforce of 23 states

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