text_1: Amid the COVID-19 outbreak, “Minnesota now has the highest unemployment rate in U.S. history.”
text_2: There is no official unemployment rate that backs the claim in the Facebook post. Minnesota’s reported unemployment rate, which was for March 2020, was near a record low when this Facebook post was published. Time lags in reporting official data mean that reported unemployment rates don’t reflect recent claims for unemployment insurance. There are indications that Minnesota’s unemployment rate could climb toward the Depression-era national record of nearly 25%.