How about that, stupidity has consequences! From Stephen Moore at realclearpolitics.com:
The latest Department of Labor employment data confirm that when it comes to the economy, America is two nations: red and blue. As the post-coronavirus shutdown era begins, blue states are losing jobs at record paces and red states are starting to gain them.
Here is what the data is telling us: 10 states had unemployment rates in May above 15%. They are all states with Democratic governors, with the exception of deep-blue Massachusetts with its liberal Republican governor, Charlie Baker.
Ranked from highest to lowest they are 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%).
The five states with the lowest unemployment rates are all red states – most of which never shut down at all. These are Nebraska (5.2%), Utah (8.5 %), Wyoming (8.8%), Arizona (8.9%), and Idaho (8.9%).
This is exactly as Arthur Laffer and I predicted in a study we conducted back in March on the economic effects of lockdowns. States with very strict business shutdown and stay-at-home orders would be facing a much tougher recovery period than states that never shut down, like Utah and Wyoming, and states that rapidly reopened, such as Arizona. This would be a bifurcated red state, blue state recovery – and so it is, so far.
