1/ In the week ending 7/11, North Carolina received 26,861 initial claims for regular #UnemploymentInsurance, down from 27,937 the week before. A year ago, the total number of initial claims was 3,397. #NCeconomy
2/ Additionally, North Carolina received 20,563 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 23,606. (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, North Carolina received 358,770 continuing claims for regular #UnemploymentInsurance, along with 192,944 continuing claims for PUA. #NCeconomy
5/ Last week, too, North Carolina received 115,952 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. A week prior, the number of claims was 78,038. #NCeconomy
6/ The # of PEUC claims in North Carolina has soared in a month. This reflects the fact that NC caps max. benefit duration at 12 weeks, not 26 weeks as is common in most states. People here are exhausting their regular benefits, while those in other states still have benefits.
7/ Again, this is not an accident. It is the predictable outcome of deliberate policy choices made by the @NCLeg back in 2013. It is a feature, not a bug. propublica.org/article/how-no…
8/ 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.
9/ After exhausting PEUC, an unemployed person could claim up to 9.6 weeks of help through the existing Extended Benefits (EB) program, assuming NC still is "triggered" on to EB. Yet the state's low max. duration means people will get fewer weeks of EB than they otherwise could.
10/ According to @NCCommerce, North Carolina paid out $5.8 billion in #UnemploymentInsurance between 3/15 & 7/15. That includes $1.4 billion in PUA. $0.12 billion in PEUC, & $3.1 billion in Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (PUC) benefits, which top up checks by $600/week.
11/ Yet the last week for which the PUC supplement is payable is the one ending 7/25. In NC, the average weekly benefit would drop by 71%, falling to $244/week from $874/week. The collective loss would translate to $364 million/week. #NCeconomy tcf.org/content/commen…
12/ As of 7/15, according to @NCCommerce, PUC has been the source of 53% of all the #UnemploymentInsurance benefits paid in North Carolina since the start of the #COVID19 recession. #NCeconomy
13/ The severe job losses in NC have deprived ~200k people (plus covered dependents) of health insurance. By one estimate, 20% of working-age adults in NC now are uninsured. Expanding Medicaid would be one way to help. #ncpol #nchealth northcarolinahealthnews.org/2020/07/15/pan…
14/ To reiterate, 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 currently is to help people pay their bills until a broad economic re-opening is possible. #NCeconomy
15/ 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 (as it has been) has been a lack of political will
16/ It is amazing, too, 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 had the most crucial expansions in place by late April. #ncgov #ncpol
17/ For context, consider how, according to @NCCommerce, some 1.2 million people have filed claims for #UnemploymentInsurance since 3/15. That number exceeds the population of Mecklenburg County, which is the state's most populous county. #NCeconomy
18/ Also, based on data from @NCCommerce, 70% of all claimants have been approved for benefits as of 7/15. Another 21% of claimants were ineligible for benefits, while 10% had more complicated claims that are under review. #NCeconomy des.nc.gov/need-help/unem…
19/ Wish I was hearing more concern about the unemployment crisis from North Carolina's elected leaders in both Raleigh & Washington. The #COVID19 crisis is not proving to be a short-term blip, esp. since the public health crisis is not under control. More aid will be needed.
20/20 At a minimum, Congress should extend the PUC program & provide meaningful fiscal relief to state & local governments. And @NCLeg Leg needs to consider revenue as part of the FY 2020 & 2021 budgets, fixing the #UnemploymentInsurance system, & finally expanding Medicaid.
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