Filing for unemployment benefits will be paused May 30 due to conversion to new system
Updated May 05, 2021;
It will cause the system to go offline for a week and a day, temporarily preventing residents from filing cliams. But earlier estimates called for the system to be offline for two weeks.
Officials from the state Department of Labor & Industry offered this revised timeline during a Wednesday meeting of the advisory panel appointed by the Legislature to monitor the computer conversion project. The labor department is moving from a mainframe system that is nearly 50 years old to one that will be accessible on mobile and tablet devices.
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Never has the US needed its unemployment insurance (UI) system more than during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Before the coronavirus crisis, the worst week for new unemployment claims in American history was in the fall of 1982. That year, the week ending September 18 saw 680,000 people claim benefits for the first time.
Fast-forward to the pandemic: The week ending March 21, 2020, saw
2.9 million first-time unemployment claims, more than four times the previous record. The weekly tally stayed above 1 million for months.
Luckily, the unprecedented surge in demand for unemployment benefits was met with an unprecedented surge in congressional support for the UI system. From March through July 2020, the federal government added an extra $600 to weekly checks for Americans out of work. And while that provision expired, $300 weekly bonuses were eventually brought back first by Donald Trump and again as part of President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan and
Regular UI: $2.90 billion
Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation ($300/weekly UI benefits to eligible claimants): $3.50 billion
PEUC (extends unemployment benefits by additional 29 weeks, ARP): $831.4 million
State Extended Benefits (extends unemployment benefits an additional 13 weeks): $32.1 million
Lost Wages Assistance ($300/weekly UI benefits to eligible claimants, fall 2020): $389.2 million
Total: $8.99 billion
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits dropped by 13,000 last week to 553,000, the lowest level since the pandemic hit last March and another sign the economy is recovering from the coronavirus recession.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claims were down from 566,000 a week earlier. They have fallen sharply over the past year but remain well above the 230,000 weekly figure typical before the pandemic struck the economy in March 2020.
Results of the contact
Be sure to also keep copies of confirmation pages and or e-mail records for online and e-mail work search efforts
Who needs to complete the work search?
All claimants filing under the regular UI series (which includes Regular UI, Extended Benefits, or Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation), as well as specific individuals filing in the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, are required to complete a weekly work search in order to receive benefits unless you meet one of the following exemptions:
If you have a return-to-work date within 10 weeks of filing your initial claim.
If you have a qualified COVID circumstance (documentation may be required)