1/ In the week ending 7/18, North Carolina received 26,323 initial claims for regular #UnemploymentInsurance, up from 28,108 the week before. A year ago, the total number of initial claims was 3,264. #NCeconomy
2/ Additionally, North Carolina received 19,821 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 20,563. (NC began accepting PUA claims on 4/24.)
3/ Last week, North Carolina received 319,057 continuing claims for regular #UnemploymentInsurance, along with 197,123 continuing claims for PUA. #NCeconomy
4/ Last week, too, North Carolina received 144,716 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 115,952. #NCeconomy
5/ The # of PEUC claims in North Carolina has been climbing rapidly. This reflects the fact that NC caps max. benefit duration at 12 weeks, not 26 weeks as is done in most states. People here are exhausting their regular benefits, while those in other states still have benefits.
6/ 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. #ncpol propublica.org/article/how-no…
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 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.
9/ @NCDES reports that it recently has begun paying some Extended Benefits claims. While the number of claims and amount of insurance payments have been modest so far (~$2m), the numbers are likely to rise in the coming weeks. des.nc.gov/need-help/unem…
10/ The high number of PUA claims, meanwhile, illustrates just how many workers normally are excluded from the regular program. Without PUA, some 250,00 unemployed Tar Heels would have been left to their own devices. #NCeconomy #ncpol
11/ According to @NCCommerce, North Carolina paid out $6.2 billion in #UnemploymentInsurance between 3/15 & 7/22. That includes $303 million in PUA. $161 million in PEUC, & $4.2 billion in Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (PUC) benefits, which top up checks by $600/week.
12/ Yet the last week for which the PUC supplement is payable is the one ending 7/25 (this week). 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…
13/ Yet #uscongress appears apt to let the PUC program expire. Even if it is reinstated later in the summer (with retroactive payments), people will see their incomes fall, with the resulting administrative complexities taking weeks to resolve. politico.com/news/2020/07/2…
14/ Now let's consider the (highly questionable) claims that the PUC program is keeping unemployed workers for accepting jobs because they "make more" by not working.
15/ Reminder: an unemployment insurance claimant who is recalled to work & refuses to go back typically becomes ineligible for ANY further benefits. There are some good cause exceptions tied COVID, but they are narrow & require the claimant to make a case. des.nc.gov/need-help/covi…
16/ And a claimant who refuses an offer of "suitable work" also typically becomes ineligible for any further benefits. Suitable work is based (partly) on the person's prior earnings & doesn't include the $600/week supplement. Again, there may be some COVID-related exceptions.
17/ In many situations, it is unlikely if an employer even knows if someone is receiving #unemploymentinsurance. A candidate may reject an offer after considering things like wages, job quality, & workplace safety.
18/ Nationally, research by @ernietedeschi & others found that about 70% of the #unemploymentinsurance beneficiaries who returned to work in June were receiving insurance benefits that exceeded their prior wages. 
19/ 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
20/ Plus, the severe job losses tied to #COVID19 have deprived ~200k people in NC (plus 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…
21/ One lesson learned during #COVID19: the expansion of #UnemploymentInsurance provided by the #CARESAct shows it is perfectly feasible & straightforward to provide Americans with meaningful social insurance. The stumbling block (as it has been) is a lack of political will.
22/ Even with the #CARESAct expansion, the #unemploymentinsurance system leaves out too many people. There is a need for @NCLeg to revisit the state's system, while #uscongress should undertake the systematic reforms that have been sitting since the 1970s.
23/23 The #COVID19 crisis is far from over, & more aid is needed. At a min., Congress should extend the PUC program & provide fiscal relief to state/local governments. And @NCLeg needs to consider raising revenues, fixing the #UnemploymentInsurance system, & expanding Medicaid.
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