States that voted for President Joe Biden in 2020 election lost far more jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic over the past year, according to a new report.

“Between February and December of last year, states that went for Biden saw the total number of people working drop an average of 6.2 percent, versus a 2.5 percent decline in those voting for the Republican,” according to a DailyMail.com report.

“The 13 states that saw the lowest decline in employment all lean strongly Republican, led by Alaska and Utah which actually saw employment increase by 0.7 and 0.3 percent respectively,” it added.

Matt Welch noted in Reason magazine, “The comparative death tolls are roughly the same (California tracks with Florida, New York with South Dakota, and Michigan with Texas); the economic performances are anything but.”

In other words, the virus wasn’t the difference. It appears the major factor was government response.

For example, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis was among early states to reopen its economy and schools. The move was controversial, especially among Democrats.

Florida’s economy has ranked among the top states emerging from the pandemic. Despite temporary losses in tourist heavy areas like Orlando and Miami, things have turned around significantly. Tourism is actually up across the state, everyone is coming to Florida for vacation. Restaurants, theme parks, and other small businesses are all desperately trying to hire more people to help with the increased demand.  Real estate sales across the state have also boomed over the last 12 months. People from lock-downed states and cities like Chicago, New York, California, New Jersey, etc. have had enough with the high taxes, awful winters and totalitarian governors, who seem reticent to give back their new-found powers.

Texas, another Republican-led state that rolled back restrictions earlier than blue states, also experienced economic growth. The Dallas News reported that despite the pandemic, the state’s real estate market was top in the nation.

Another factor includes Americans moving out of lockdown heavy states like New York and California to more open states like Texas and Florida. While the two largest blue states suffered population decline in many regions, Texas, Florida and other red states enjoyed population growth.

There’s a lesson in the statistics for conservative Americans. Limited government drives economic growth. When restrictions are eased, business flourishes.

A prime example can be found in the 2020 Rose Bowl. California restrictions led to the game facing an empty stadium. Instead, the Cowboys home stadium in Arlington, Texas, offered to host the game.

On New Year’s Day, fans watched live in Texas, boosting the local economy by millions, while Californians were stuck at home under Newsom’s draconian restrictions.

Baseball is another great sports example. On Opening Day 2021, the Texas Rangers, again in Arlington, hosted a sellout crowd of more than 38,000 fans. In comparison, the San Francisco Giants offered a socially distanced 8,000 fan limitation.

The issue of vaccine passports has become the next emerging issue that will divide red and blue states. Several red states have already passed legislation to ban vaccine passports. The vaccine passports propose to require Americans to show proof of vaccination to conduct certain business or attend events or games.

Yes, America needs to rebound from the pandemic, but the fewer restrictions the better. At least a U.K. publications can notice the difference. Perhaps more Americans will as well.