ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — WalletHub reports the U.S. unemployment rate sits at 3.5% coming a long way from the almost historic high of 124.7% in 2020. Financial writer Adam McCann dove a little deeper into unemployment rates of U.S. states as inflation and a potential recession push the boundary of a higher unemployment rate.

WalletHub explains they compared the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia based on six metrics that compare unemployment rate stats from December 2022 to key dates in 2022, 2021, 2020, and 2019. WalletHub was curious to see the impact since the beginning of the pandemic on recent changes in the job market. New York State ranks 40th having a 4.3% unemployment rate in December 2022, a 0.2% change in unemployment from December 2022 to November 2022, a decrease of 18.4% from December 2022 to December 2021, a decrease of 50.2% from December 2022 to December 2020 and a 16.7% change from December 2022 to December 2019. Number one state, Florida, results in a 2.5% unemployment rate for December 2022, a decrease of 3.2% from December 2022 to November 2022, a decrease of 25.6% from December 2022 to December 2021, a decrease of 58.7% from December 2022 to December 2020 and a decrease of 8.3% from December 2022 to 2019.

WalletHub asked some economic experts to give more insight on the job market and what we can expect in 2023. Patrick Button, a professor from Tulane University states, “I expect some mild improvements in 2023. The national unemployment rate is very low, so I don’t expect that to change much. Rather, I expect some of the labor shortages to gradually ease more, as labor supply and demand get into better sync through some wage/benefits increases and through barriers to being able to work caused by COVID gradually lifting. However, the economy is hard to predict, and since much of the situation we are currently in was due to mostly unforeseen events (COVID-19, the war in Ukraine, etc.), what will happen largely comes down to if any other big events happen or not. Labor markets have slow trends that take a few years to resolve unless there is some major event.” Check out the rest of the report at the WalletHub website.