Blue states seem to be struggling to get their economies back on track as things slowly open up across the country. On average, their unemployment rates remain 59% higher than their red state counterparts.
Blue states seem to be struggling to get their economies back on track as things slowly open up across the country. On average, their unemployment rates remain 59 percent higher than their red state counterparts.
Discussions are taking place as to whether factors such as the severity of the lockdowns and the increased reluctance to lift them sooner in blue states play a part in the discrepancy in unemployment numbers.
It's also possible that stringent new measures undertaking by some Democratic states have hit the economy hard, and unintentionally lead to higher unemployment.
According to the Bongino website, there is a clear pattern here. Red states have less unemployment than purple states, which in turn have less unemployment than blue states. Many Democrat-run states have kept severe measures in place even as new cases of the novel coronavirus continue to dwindle.
"In red states (those voting Republican for president in all four of the last four elections), the combined unemployment rate stood at 6.6 percent. Among blue states (those that voted Democrat in all four of the last four presidential elections) the figure was 10.5 percent. Among purple states (all of the others, either split 2 and 2 or 3 wins for one party and one win for the other), the unemployment figure was 7.8%."
It's also noted that, among the purple states, those currently governed by Republicans have almost a full point less unemployment than do those run by Democrats.
Libby’s Desk
Commentary and must-reads from Libby’s desk, straight to your inbox.
TPM Newsletter
The Post Millennial’s top stories, delivered to your inbox.
