The Effects of COVID-19-Related State-Level Restrictions on National and State Unemployment

• Activity Number: 75 - SPEED: Data Challenge and SPAAC
• Type: Topic-Contributed
• Date/Time: Monday, August 9, 2021 : 10:00 AM to 11:50 AM
• Sponsor: Section on Statistical Computing
• Author(s): Richard Griffiths and Clayton Perry and Chrystine Tadler*
• Companies: mGTI Statistics and Self and Self
• Keywords: Interactive Visualization; Unemployment; COVID-19 Restrictions

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the American population in numerous ways beyond specific health outcomes. One of the largest impacts is on the rate of employment after many businesses and corporations were unexpectedly forced to close or restructure. This research investigates a relationship between unemployment levels, State-level COVID-19 related travel or mobility restrictions, and the severity of the pandemic over time through the use of the ACS 2019 1-year estimates, the Census Household Pulse Survey, the BLS LAUS data, and State-level COVID-19 restriction and case data. A customizable multi-level model is presented which can simulate a variety of restriction levels to illustrate the effects on unemployment levels. We introduce a visualization tool that allows users to explore the relationships between restrictions and unemployment levels.