States that voted for Biden in 2020 lost the most jobs during the pandemic, data show
The five states that lost the most jobs – Connecticut, Hawaii, Vermont, Maryland and New Jersey – backed Biden
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The states that voted for President Biden in the 2020 election lost more jobs on average than states that voted for President Trump during the COVID-19 pandemic, data show.
According to a FOX Business analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data, between February 2020 and March 2021 states that voted for Biden saw an average decline in nonfarm payrolls of about 5.3%, compared with roughly 2% among states that voted for Trump.
The states that experienced the largest percentage of job losses over the specified time frame include Connecticut (-14.1%), Hawaii (-10.2%), Vermont (-9.1%), Maryland (-8.4%) and New Jersey (-7.4%). Each of these states voted for Biden in the election.
The states that saw jobs increase from pre-pandemic levels were Idaho (0.5%), Kansas (0.3%) and South Dakota (1.3%). All of these states voted for Trump in the election.
In the next tier, the states that saw the fewest job losses were Oklahoma (-0.2%), Oregon (-0.3%) and Utah (-0.3%). Only Oregon went for Biden.
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The Daily Mail first reported similar employment trends based on data ranging from February 2020 through December 2020.
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Republicans have criticized Democratic governors over the lockdown policies throughout the pandemic, alleging that states like California and New York took dramatic measures to shut down their respective economies in an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
On the other hand, Florida – under the leadership of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis – never issued a statewide mask mandate and implemented restrictions in the state only for a short period in 2020.
Several other states, including Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Utah and Wyoming, never issued stay-at-home orders.
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However, not all states experienced COVID-19 outbreaks equally. Some of the populous states – like New York and California – experienced severe outbreaks, while other less populous areas did not see as many cases, which played a part in how their state leadership responded to the situation.
The U.S. economy, overall, is still 8.2 million jobs shy of pre-pandemic levels, but the Biden administration has estimated that if job growth continues at a steady pace, these losses could be recouped by the end of the year.