by Bruce Walker
Even as Gov. Tim Walz allows more sectors of the economy to open, Minnesota unemployment ticked upward to 439,550 total claims in the week ending May 30, compared to 417,084 claims the prior week ending May 23.
All told, 22,466 new unemployment claims were filed in the state last week, a drop of 4,745 claims from the 27,211 claims initiated the prior week, an 18.5 percent week-over-week decrease.
According to numbers released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor, Wisconsin unemployment claims decreased 22,622 claims between May 16 and May 23, from, respectively, 416,668 to 417,084.
Nationally, about 1.9 million people filed for unemployment, according to the latest numbers, bringing the national total during the 11 weeks of the outbreak to more than 42 million.
Florida had the largest jump in new claims with a 17 percent increase. California, the most populous state, led the nation with more than 230,000 claims; New York was fourth-highest.
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Bruce Walker is a regional editor at The Center Square. He previously worked as editor at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy’s MichiganScience magazine and The Heartland Institute’s InfoTech & Telecom News.
