Special Report
39 States Where People Gave Up Looking for Jobs During the Pandemic
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Last Updated:
The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the U.S. labor market. Millions of Americans lost their jobs or had their hours reduced, as many businesses were shut down temporarily or for good.
Though spiking unemployment figures were widely publicized, another segment of the U.S. population grew as well — discouraged workers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics defines discouraged workers as people “who have looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months, but were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.”
From the fourth quarter of 2019 to the fourth quarter of 2020, the number of discouraged workers in America increased by nearly 200,000, up to 574,300. This indicates that thousands of Americans who had already been out of work gave up looking for jobs, as career opportunities became scarce. (These are the 25 lowest-paying jobs in America.)
Though the number of discouraged workers increased in nearly every state, in some, this population more than doubled or even tripled. On the average nationwide, the number of discouraged workers increased by more than 66% from Q4 2019 to Q4 2020.
The news wasn’t all bad. Despite the economic circumstances, with every state reporting increasing unemployment figures, 11 states actually had a declining number of discouraged workers — Alabama, Utah, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Kentucky, Louisiana, Indiana, Arizona, Montana, Delaware, Idaho — and a 12th, South Dakota, reported no change. These are the American cities that added jobs during the pandemic.
To determine the states where people gave up looking for jobs, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on the percentage change between discouraged workers in Q4 2019 and Q4 2020. Labor force and unemployment data was also obtained from the BLS. Population change was calculated based on annual population figures published by the current population survey.
Click here to see 39 states where people gave up looking for jobs during the pandemic.
39. North Carolina
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +3.8% (Q4 2020 total: 16,500)
> 2020 labor force: 4,950,859
> 2020 unemployment rate: 7.3% — 25th lowest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +1.1% — 10th largest
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38. Kansas
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +4.0% (Q4 2020 total: 2,600)
> 2020 labor force: 1,497,003
> 2020 unemployment rate: 5.9% — 11th lowest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +0.0% — 16th smallest
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37. Arkansas
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +5.0% (Q4 2020 total: 4,200)
> 2020 labor force: 1,354,296
> 2020 unemployment rate: 6.1% — 15th lowest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +0.4% — 24th largest
36. Hawaii
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +6.7% (Q4 2020 total: 1,600)
> 2020 labor force: 648,191
> 2020 unemployment rate: 11.6% — 2nd highest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +-0.6% — 2nd smallest
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35. Washington
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +9.9% (Q4 2020 total: 8,900)
> 2020 labor force: 3,914,869
> 2020 unemployment rate: 8.4% — 12th highest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +1.0% — 11th largest
34. Minnesota
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +11.1% (Q4 2020 total: 3,000)
> 2020 labor force: 3,094,702
> 2020 unemployment rate: 6.2% — 18th lowest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +0.3% — 24th smallest
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33. Mississippi
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +15.6% (Q4 2020 total: 7,400)
> 2020 labor force: 1,259,347
> 2020 unemployment rate: 8.1% — 15th highest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +-0.3% — 6th smallest
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32. North Dakota
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +16.7% (Q4 2020 total: 700)
> 2020 labor force: 406,839
> 2020 unemployment rate: 5.1% — 4th lowest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +0.4% — 23rd largest
31. Rhode Island
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +18.2% (Q4 2020 total: 1,300)
> 2020 labor force: 541,680
> 2020 unemployment rate: 9.4% — 8th highest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +-0.2% — 8th smallest
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30. Alaska
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +18.8% (Q4 2020 total: 1,900)
> 2020 labor force: 347,414
> 2020 unemployment rate: 7.8% — 19th highest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +-0.1% — 13th smallest
29. Virginia
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +20.4% (Q4 2020 total: 12,400)
> 2020 labor force: 4,346,644
> 2020 unemployment rate: 6.2% — 16th lowest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +0.6% — 16th largest
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28. Georgia
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +21.1% (Q4 2020 total: 23,000)
> 2020 labor force: 5,072,155
> 2020 unemployment rate: 6.5% — 20th lowest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +0.9% — 13th largest
27. Michigan
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +31.5% (Q4 2020 total: 18,800)
> 2020 labor force: 4,840,843
> 2020 unemployment rate: 9.9% — 5th highest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +-0.2% — 9th smallest
26. Oklahoma
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +33.3% (Q4 2020 total: 5,600)
> 2020 labor force: 1,848,485
> 2020 unemployment rate: 6.1% — 13th lowest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +0.6% — 18th largest
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25. District of Columbia
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +38.5% (Q4 2020 total: 1,800)
> 2020 labor force: 409,734
> 2020 unemployment rate: 8.0%
> Population change, 2019-2020: +1.0%
24. Tennessee
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +48.1% (Q4 2020 total: 12,000)
> 2020 labor force: 3,289,426
> 2020 unemployment rate: 7.5% — 24th highest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +0.8% — 15th largest
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23. Missouri
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +54.2% (Q4 2020 total: 9,100)
> 2020 labor force: 3,052,700
> 2020 unemployment rate: 6.1% — 14th lowest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +0.2% — 22nd smallest
22. Maine
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +57.1% (Q4 2020 total: 1,100)
> 2020 labor force: 676,547
> 2020 unemployment rate: 5.4% — 6th lowest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +0.4% — 22nd largest
21. New Mexico
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +57.1% (Q4 2020 total: 3,300)
> 2020 labor force: 943,287
> 2020 unemployment rate: 8.4% — 11th highest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +0.5% — 21st largest
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20. Wisconsin
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +60.5% (Q4 2020 total: 6,100)
> 2020 labor force: 3,065,402
> 2020 unemployment rate: 6.3% — 19th lowest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +0.2% — 20th smallest
19. Illinois
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +62.1% (Q4 2020 total: 18,800)
> 2020 labor force: 6,249,147
> 2020 unemployment rate: 9.5% — 7th highest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +-0.7% — the smallest
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18. New York
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +63.4% (Q4 2020 total: 53,600)
> 2020 labor force: 9,289,171
> 2020 unemployment rate: 10.0% — 4th highest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +-0.6% — 3rd smallest
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17. South Carolina
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +66.7% (Q4 2020 total: 9,500)
> 2020 labor force: 2,384,590
> 2020 unemployment rate: 6.2% — 17th lowest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +1.3% — 5th largest
16. Texas
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +72.0% (Q4 2020 total: 57,800)
> 2020 labor force: 13,983,319
> 2020 unemployment rate: 7.6% — 23rd highest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +1.2% — 7th largest
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15. West Virginia
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +73.7% (Q4 2020 total: 3,300)
> 2020 labor force: 792,156
> 2020 unemployment rate: 8.3% — 14th highest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +-0.4% — 4th smallest
14. California
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +74.9% (Q4 2020 total: 80,800)
> 2020 labor force: 18,821,167
> 2020 unemployment rate: 10.1% — 3rd highest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +-0.4% — 5th smallest
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13. Connecticut
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +78.3% (Q4 2020 total: 10,700)
> 2020 labor force: 1,872,631
> 2020 unemployment rate: 7.9% — 18th highest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +-0.2% — 7th smallest
12. New Jersey
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +85.5% (Q4 2020 total: 15,400)
> 2020 labor force: 4,495,166
> 2020 unemployment rate: 9.8% — 6th highest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +0.0% — 14th smallest
11. Ohio
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +90.9% (Q4 2020 total: 16,800)
> 2020 labor force: 5,754,286
> 2020 unemployment rate: 8.1% — 16th highest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +0.0% — 17th smallest
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10. New Hampshire
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +100.0% (Q4 2020 total: 1,400)
> 2020 labor force: 761,732
> 2020 unemployment rate: 6.7% — 22nd lowest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +0.5% — 20th largest
9. Florida
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +109.8% (Q4 2020 total: 64,000)
> 2020 labor force: 10,114,329
> 2020 unemployment rate: 7.7% — 21st highest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +1.2% — 8th largest
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8. Massachusetts
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +131.4% (Q4 2020 total: 11,800)
> 2020 labor force: 3,658,321
> 2020 unemployment rate: 8.9% — 10th highest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +0.0% — 15th smallest
7. Nevada
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +145.2% (Q4 2020 total: 7,600)
> 2020 labor force: 1,530,872
> 2020 unemployment rate: 12.8% — the highest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +1.9% — 3rd largest
6. Vermont
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +150.0% (Q4 2020 total: 1,000)
> 2020 labor force: 330,058
> 2020 unemployment rate: 5.6% — 8th lowest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +-0.1% — 11th smallest
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5. Nebraska
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +170.0% (Q4 2020 total: 2,700)
> 2020 labor force: 1,035,175
> 2020 unemployment rate: 4.2% — the lowest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +0.2% — 18th smallest
4. Maryland
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +203.1% (Q4 2020 total: 9,700)
> 2020 labor force: 3,172,796
> 2020 unemployment rate: 6.8% — 23rd lowest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +0.2% — 19th smallest
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3. Iowa
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +216.7% (Q4 2020 total: 3,800)
> 2020 labor force: 1,666,420
> 2020 unemployment rate: 5.3% — 5th lowest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +0.3% — 23rd smallest
2. Wyoming
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +250.0% (Q4 2020 total: 700)
> 2020 labor force: 296,801
> 2020 unemployment rate: 5.8% — 9th lowest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +0.6% — 17th largest
1. Oregon
> Chg. in discouraged workers, Q4 2019-Q4 2020: +407.1% (Q4 2020 total: 7,100)
> 2020 labor force: 2,104,657
> 2020 unemployment rate: 7.6% — 22nd highest
> Population change, 2019-2020: +0.6% — 19th largest
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