By Ann Saphir
(Reuters) – The five U.S. states where governors have closed or have said they will soon be closing non-essential businesses account for about 31% of the world’s biggest economy.
Authorities have called such steps necessary to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Here are some key facts about the collective economic heft of California, New York, Illinois, New Jersey and Connecticut, which individually rank No. 1, No. 3, No. 5, No. 8 and No. 23 among all 50 states by GDP.
$6.4 TRILLION
California’s $3 trillion economy alone accounts for 14.5% of the U.S. output, making the state by itself a bigger economic powerhouse than all but four nations. Together, the five states produced $6.4 trillion in goods and services in 2018, Bureau of Economic Analysis data shows.
For reference, President Donald Trump’s administration and Congress are currently negotiating a $1 trillion-plus economic stimulus package, which equates to about one-20th of annual U.S. economic output.
JOBS
By payrolls, California leads all 50 states, with 17.6 million employed in nonfarm jobs as of January. All told there are 39.5 million jobs in the five states subject to stay-at-home orders.
UNEMPLOYMENT
The unemployment rate in Illinois currently matches the national average of 3.5%. The unemployment rates in the other four states are slightly higher, with California’s 3.9% the highest among them.
UNINSURED
Some 5.4 million residents of the five states do not have health insurance, according to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation. That is about 19% of the total U.S. uninsured.
PAY
Average annual pay by private firms in the five states ranged from $60,425 in Illinois, to $73,476 in New York, all well above the national average of $57,198, Bureau of Labor Statistics data show.
(Reporting by Ann Saphir; Editing by Will Dunham)
