1/ In the week ending 7/4, North Carolina received 27,202 initial claims for regular #UnemploymentInsurance, down from 29,580 the week before. A year ago, the total number of initial claims was 2,679. #NCeconomy
2/ Additionally, North Carolina received 23,606 initial claims for the new Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, which covers certain workers normally ineligible for unemployment insurance. The figure a week earlier was 27,134. (NC began accepting PUA claims on 4/24.)
3/ Since the roll out of the PUA program, the number of new PUA claims in North Carolina has rivaled the number of initial claims for regular benefits. This illustrates how many workers normally are excluded from the regular program. #NCeconomy #ncpol
4/ Last week, too, North Carolina received 78,038 claims for the federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program (PEUC), which allows people who exhaust their regular benefits to claim up to 13 more weeks of benefits. This was the 4th week with PEUC claims in NC. #NCeconomy
5/ The number of PEUC claims rose to 78,038 from 35,360 week-over-week & should keep growing as people exhaust their regular state benefits. Remember NC is tied with FL for the shortest maximum #UnemploymentInsurance benefit duration in the country (max. of 12 weeks). #NCeconomy
6/ The trends in PUA & PEUC claims illustrate how broken North Carolina's #UnemploymentInsurance system is due to deliberate choices made by @NCLeg back in 2013. The #COVID19 crisis shows how badly reform is needed. wral.com/coronavirus/ed…
7/ North Carolina's short maximum benefit duration means that job losers in late March & April have exhausted or are about to exhaust their regular benefits. If NC set max. benefits at 26 weeks, as most states do and as NC did pre-2013, unemployed workers would be better off.
8/ After exhausting PEUC, an unemployed person could claim 6 more weeks of help through the existing Extended Benefits (EB) program, assuming North Carolina still is "triggered" on to EB. Yet the state's low max. duration means people will get fewer weeks of EB than they could.
9/ Over the last 16 weeks, North Carolina has averaged 73,282 new claims for regular #UnemploymentClaims a week, along with a weekly average of 405,149 continuing claims for regular benefits. #NCeconomy
10/ While the number of initial claims for regular #UnemploymentInsurance in North Carolina is down from the peak of 172,145 in the week ending 3/28, last week's figure still exceeds the number of claims received in all but 22 weeks of the "Great Recession." #NCeconomy
11/ And when PUA claims are included, the number of new #UnemploymentInsurance claims in North Carolina rivals the highest number received at any time during the "Great Recession." #NCeconomy
12/ Last week, North Carolina received 405,149 continuing claims for regular #UnemploymentInsurance, along with 202,756 continuing claims for PUA and 78,038 claims for PEUC. #NCeconomy
13/ According to @NCCommerce, North Carolina paid out $5.3 billion in #UnemploymentInsurance between 3/15 & 7/8. That includes $1.2 billion in PUA. $0.09 billion in PEUC, & $2.9 billion in Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (PUC) benefits, which top up checks by $600/week.
14/ Unfortunately, the PUC program is set to expire at the end of July, absent Congressional action. At that point, normal UI benefits would return to the state-set levels that max out at $350/week & averaged ~$275/week prior to the crisis. #NCpol #NCeconomy
15/ While some claims numbers have improved recently, they remain at crisis levels & are unlikely to return to pre-COVID levels by 7/31. And additional job losses are possible given rising COVID caseloads. Congress needs to act. epi.org/blog/almost-fo…
16/ Nothing suggests that policymakers can ignore unemployment. At a minimum, Congress should extend the PUC program & provide meaningful fiscal relief to state & local governments. And states need to consider revenue as part of the FY 2020 & 2021 budgets. itep.org/new-fiscal-yea…
17/ As a reminder, this is not a "normal" recession. It is the result of deliberate choices to "freeze" the economy to protect public health. The goal of #UnemploymentInsurance here is to help people pay their bills until a broad economic re-opening is possible. #NCeconomy
18/ Also as a reminder, the expansion of #UnemploymentInsurance provided by the #CARESAct shows that it is perfectly feasible & straightforward to provide Americans with meaningful systems of social insurance. The stumbling block has been a lack of political will
19/19 It really is amazing to consider how quickly states were able to launch the multiple new #UnemploymentInsurance programs in the #CARESAct. The act was signed on 3/27, & North Carolina, for one, had the most crucial expansions in place by late April. #ncgov #ncpol
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