Kansas in top 10 states for increasing unemployment claims: study

TOPEKA (KSNT) - The Sunflower State is experiencing a spike in unemployment claims this spring as reported in a recently released study.

WalletHub, a personal finance website, published its findings on June 6 showing Kansas is in the top ten states experiencing the biggest increase in unemployment claims last month. This comes alongside a rise in weekly unemployment claims on a national basis.

WalletHub examined where unemployment claims are rising the most across the nation, including the District of Columbia, in its study "based on changes in unemployment claims for several key benchmark weeks." The Sunflower State came in sixth place overall in late May for the biggest increase since last week:

1. North Dakota
2. Minnesota
3. Iowa
4. Massachusetts
5. Pennsylvania
6. Kansas
7. Nevada
8. Maryland
9. West Virginia
10. New Jersey

The study also identified several other metrics related to unemployment claims, including the following:

• Change in unemployment claims - latest week vs. previous week: +28.44%
• Change in unemployment claims - latest week vs. same week of 2023: +39.82%
• Change in unemployment claims - year to date vs. same period of 2023: +7.63%
• Unemployment claims per 100,000 people in the labor force: 102

Kansas is also singled out as being fourth in the nation for the biggest increase in the number of unemployment insurance initial claims (latest week vs. previous week) and fifth for the biggest increase in the number of unemployment insurance initial claims (latest week vs. same week of 2023). You can read through the full WalletHub study by clicking here.

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