We explore the effect of various factors on interstate differences in weekly unemployment insurance claims, focusing specifically on the determinants over the initial period of the pandemic in the U.S. We consider the effects of COVID-19 cases, state policies enacted in response to COVID-19, relevant provisions of Federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) legislation, and the nature of state economies. We find that during the initial weeks of the pandemic, unemployment claims were driven by consumer reactions to the coronavirus. We find that over the March 21-April 25 period states with greater employment in industries most affected by the virus and which issued orders closing nonessential businesses experienced greater weekly unemployment claims. We find mixed evidence that unemployment benefits affect the number of unemployment claims. However, we find no evidence that the ability to work at home mitigated the increase in unemployment rates during this period, nor evidence that the CARES Act’s Payroll Protection Program influenced the level of new unemployment claims.

我们探讨各种因素对每周失业保险索赔的州际差异的影响，特别关注美国大流行初期的决定因素我们考虑 COVID-19 病例的影响，国家针对 COVID-19 制定的政策，联邦冠状病毒援助、救济和经济安全（CARES）立法的相关规定，以及各州经济的性质。我们发现，在大流行的最初几周，失业申请是由消费者对冠状病毒的反应驱动的。我们发现，在 3 月 21 日至 4 月 25 日期间，受病毒影响最严重的行业就业人数较多且发布命令关闭非必要业务的州每周申请失业救济人数较多。我们发现混合证据表明失业救济金会影响申请失业救济人数。然而，我们没有发现任何证据表明在家工作的能力缓解了这一时期失业率的上升，也没有证据表明 CARES 法案的工资保护计划影响了新的失业申请水平。