Giving Compass' Take:

• Here is breakdown of the cities experiencing the highest rates of unemployment due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

• How can donors in these cities respond to high unemployment rates? 

• Read how unemployment insurance needs improvement to handle  COVID-19. 

Las Vegas experienced the highest increase of unemployment due to the coronavirus, according to a recent WalletHub analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data across 180 U.S. cities.

The U.S. has lost almost 41 million jobs — 25% of the workforce — since the pandemic began, eliminating employment strides made since the Great Recession. The analysis accounts for the Bureau of Labor Statistics' misclassification of temporary workers as "'absent from work because of other reasons' rather than 'unemployed,'" which could mean that the actual rate of unemployment is actually closer to 33%.

Many of the cities most affected by the coronavirus have economies that rely heavily on the tourism industry. Nevada, for example, was forced to close its 219 commercial casinos during the pandemic. And while casinos are now reopening, experts warn it could take up to 18 months to recover, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.

Beyond tourism, manufacturing and leisure industry hubs, the green jobs industry is another that has been rocked by the pandemic. Over 447,000 clean energy workers filed unemployment claims in April, adding up to over 600,000 workers or 17.8% of the workforce that have lost their jobs.

Read the full article about unemployment rates in cities by Cailin Crowe at Smart Cities Dive.