According to state officials, the vast majority of unemployed or unemployed state residents have received unemployment compensation benefits.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, 92 percent of eligible claimants who applied for benefits between March 15 and June 13, and who filed continuous claims, had received payment as of Friday.
Labor and Industry, which had been releasing unemployment compensation data on Mondays, recently suspended disclosure on Thursdays to better coordinate with federal agencies tracking similar data.
Up to 2.2 million Pennsylvania residents had filed unemployment compensation claims earlier in the month. The count counts claims dating back to mid-March when a statewide shutdown forced companies to shut down their operations.
PennLive continues to send mail from state workers who are desperate to receive their benefits.
Labor and Industry officials have repeatedly emphasized that staff are working overtime to meet the demand for unprecedented benefits.
Pennsylvania unemployment, which hit a record low of 4 percent last year, has stabilized in recent weeks after peaking in April amid the rising pandemic. According to data released Friday by Labor & Industry, June’s 13 percent rate was well above the national rate of 11.1 percent. The state’s unemployment rate peaked at 16 percent in April, the highest rate in more than four decades of record keeping.
Staff at the unemployment compensation service center has more than doubled, increasing 103 percent since March 15, authorities said. New employees have been hired; Personnel from other state agencies and offices have been reassigned to meet the department’s demands.
Since March 15, when the Wolf administration issued a statewide shutdown amid growing coronavirus cases, the department has paid more than $ 28 billion in unemployment benefits.
Officials say they remain focused on improving customer service.
“Our goal is to provide as positive an experience as possible to claimants applying for unemployment compensation benefits,” department officials said in the written statement.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 1,032 new cases of coronavirus on Friday as the state approaches 100,000 infections.
The new report brings the statewide total to 99,478 cases since the first coronavirus case was reported in Pennsylvania on March 6.
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