OH adds another 42363 unemployed last week; national total nears 41 million

by Nick Cohen
in Industry
— May 30, 2020

One potential problem with this system is that unemployed workers might get more money than normal for not working, while workers who are considered essential don't get any hazard pay despite potential exposure to COVID-19. The program allows unemployed citizens, such as freelancers and gig workers, who can not apply for regular unemployment benefits, to apply for government benefits.

To date, state labor officials report some 558,000 Tennesseans have applied for unemployment benefits since the pandemic began shuttering businesses in March.

The Tennessee Department of Labor has released county-level unemployment numbers for the month of April, and the new figures are mind-boggling.

Another 2.1 million people filed for unemployment benefits last week, the Department of Labor reported Thursday morning.

The number of people claiming regular unemployment benefits for consecutive weeks fell to 21.1 million.

The latest number of continued claims is 25,186 for the week ending May 9.

IWD said more than $104 million in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation benefits were paid between May 17 and May 23.

No recession in modern history has come close to the jobless rate caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Many laid-off workers are frustrated with the delay and a lack of information. The Federal Reserve noted in its monthly Beige Book report on the economy that business owners "cited challenges in bringing employees back to work, including workers' health concerns, limited access to child care, and generous unemployment insurance benefits". The government counts people as unemployed only if they're actually looking for a job, and many Americans probably see no point in trying when so many businesses are shut down.

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