WEST VIRGINIA (WBOY) – Across the U.S., hiring is still a major challenge for employers, even as the national unemployment rate fell to 3.5% in March.
However, a new study suggests depending on where you live, some employers may be having a harder time finding people to work the job than employers in other states.
A recent ranking from WalletHub, a personal finance website, sought to rank “states where employers are struggling the most in hiring.” Using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on two metrics involving job openings.
Those metrics concerned the rate of job openings for the latest month and for the last 12 months.
WalletHub ranked West Virginia third on its list, meaning the state is having a harder time employing workers than most other states in the nation.
Below is the list of the top 10 states where employers are struggling to hire the most, according to WalletHub:
- Alaska
- Georgia
- West Virginia
- Louisiana
- Virginia
- South Carolina
- Arkansas
- Maryland
- Montana
- Colorado
Based on BLS data, WalletHub found the change in the job openings rate for West Virginia in the latest month equaled almost 8%, while its job openings rate in the last year was nearly 9%.
While additional data from the BLS shows the civilian labor force participation rate still falls below pre-pandemic levels, that rate has been rising steadily since 2021. In the last month, that rate of participation sat at 62.6%.
Meanwhile, a report from Reuters indicates that more Americans are filing for unemployment since the week ending on April 15. Data shows 245,000 claims for state unemployment benefits were filed in the last week.
