Las Vegas has the largest increase in unemployment due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an analysis by WalletHub, a personal finance website.
To identify cities hit hardest by unemployment, analysts compared 180 cities across three metrics, including each city's unemployment growth in April, the latest month for which data is available, compared to April 2019 and January 2020. WalletHub also looked at each city's overall unemployment rate: the increase in unemployment insurance initial claims between the weeks of March 16 and May 18 this year compared to the weeks of March 18 to May 20 last year. More information about the methodology is available here.
Ten cities with the biggest increases in unemployment, according to the analysis:
1. Las Vegas
2. North Las Vegas, Nev.
3. Detroit
4. Henderson, Nev.
5. Grand Rapids, Mich.
6. Burlington, Vt.
7. Honolulu
8. Fort Wayne, Ind.
9. South Burlington, Vt.
10. Manchester, N.H.
Ten cities with the smallest increases in unemployment, according to the analysis:
1. New Haven, Conn.
2. Bridgeport, Conn.
3. Tallahassee, Fla.
4. Washington, D.C.
5. Juneau, Alaska
6. Cheyenne, Wyo.
7. Baltimore
8. Durham, N.C.
9. Columbia, S.C.
10. Las Cruces, N.M.