A Sunday editorial in The Wall Street Journal provides some pretty dispositive data concerning State economic behaviors during the present Wuhan Virus situation.
The baseline: the national unemployment rate for May was 13.3%.
Ten States remained above even 15% in their individual unemployment rates:
- Nevada 25.3%
- Hawaii 22.6%
- Michigan 21.2%
- California 16.3%
- Rhode Island 16.3%
- Massachusetts 16.3%
- Delaware 15.8%
- Illinois 15.2%
- New Jersey 15.2%
- Washington 15.1%
These States also had some of our nation’s most draconian lockdown requirements.
States with no lockdown or very light-handed stay-home instructions coupled with very early reopening include these, and their May unemployment rates:
- Georgia 9.7%
- Arkansas 9.5%
- Arizona 8.9%
- Utah 8.5%
- Nebraska 5.2% (our nation’s lowest rate)
It’s a nearly pure Progressive-Democrat vs Republican view of the importance of economic health, and so of overall health. As with most things, though, there are a couple of exceptions.
Massachusetts, in that top-ten list of poor performance, has a Republican Governor and Lieutenant Governor, although it has Progressive-Democratic Party veto-proof majorities in both houses of the State’s legislature.
Colorado, Progressive-Democrat-run, isn’t on the list of top-five best performers, but that government ended its lockdown very early, and its unemployment rate is below the national average and falling further: from April’s 12.2% to 10.2% in May.
Notice that. The economic recovery rate is markedly improved by early release from lockdown gaol or by not locking up the citizens in the first place.
Keep in mind who has the better sense—economic, liberty, health—this November.