1/ In the week ending 8/15, North Carolina received 16,607 initial claims for regular state #UnemploymentInsurance, up from 14,328 the week before. A year ago, the total number of initial claims was 3,014. #NCeconomy
2/ Additionally, North Carolina received 10,360 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 8,620. (NC began accepting PUA claims on 4/24.)
3/ And, last week, North Carolina received 211,677 continuing claims for regular #UnemploymentInsurance, along with 10,360 continuing claims for PUA. #NCeconomy
4/ The similarity in initial & continuing claims figures for the regular UI and PUA program illustrates how many workers normally are excluded from the #UnemploymentInsurance system. Absent the #CARESAct, the people claiming PUA would not be receiving insurance payments.
5/ Last week, too, North Carolina received 201,964 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 199,881. #NCeconomy
6/ Since June, the weekly number of PEUC claims in North Carolina has grown, on average, by 20,402 claims/week. Over that span, the number of PEUC claims in North Carolina has averaged 117,241 per week. Absent the #CARESAct, these people largely would be on their own. #NCeconomy
7/ A North Carolina worker who exhausts PEUC then could receive up to 9.6 weeks of Extended Benefits (EB). In the week ending 8/1, which is the most recent one with data, North Carolina handled 5,545 EB claims, up from 4,816. This likely will increase in coming weeks. #NCeconomy
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/ Workers who lost their jobs in late March exhausted their regular #UnemploymentInsurance benefits in mid-June & will exhaust their PEUC benefits in early September. #ncpol
10/ 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 of the state system, not a bug. #ncpol propublica.org/article/how-no…
11/ Even more mind-blowing is the fact that elected officials like @ThomTillis who helped create this unfortunate situation campaign on it as being an accomplishment that helps unemployed North Carolinians! #ncpol theintercept.com/2020/08/09/sen…
12/ According to @NCCommerce, North Carolina paid out $7 billion in #UnemploymentInsurance between 3/15 & 8/19. That includes $383 million in PUA, $315 million in PEUC, & $4.7 BILLION in Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (PUC) benefits, which topped up checks by $600/week.
13/ The week of 7/25 was the last one for which the PUC was payable. The expiration is estimated to cut the average weekly benefit in NC by 71%, falling to $244/week from $874/week. The collective loss would translate to $364 million/week. #NCeconomy tcf.org/content/commen…
14/ The loss of the PUC supplement is resulting in pronounced hardship for workers across the state who are unable to return to due to the fallout from the #COVID19 crisis, as @sophiekasakove & others have reported for @TheHerald_Sun. #NCeconomy heraldsun.com/news/coronavir…
15/ The Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) program announced by the Trump Administration is no substitute for the PUC supplement. The program is based on the appearance of doing something without doing much at all. #SaveThe600 nelp.org/news-releases/…
16/ This doesn't mean that @NC_Governor shouldn't apply for the assistance, but people need to be realistic about how little the program will do, especially when compared to the PUC supplement. journalnow.com/business/n-c-p…
17/ Among its flaws, the LWA program has capped funding, which would be exhausted within a few weeks given the scale of unemployment in the US. PUC, in contrast, provided a set benefit for every week a claimant is eligible. #SaveThe600
18/ The LWA program also excludes many workers. Anyone receiving a regular #UnemploymentInsurance benefit of less than $100/week, for one, would be ineligible. This harms low-wage workers. Similarly, it is unclear if PUA & PEUC recipients could benefit depending on state choices.
19/ And, of course, the LWA provides much less assistance. For those lucky enough to qualify, the supplement will be $300 or $400/week as compared to $600/week provided by the PUC program authorized under the #CARESAct. #SaveThe600
20/ The LWA program simply confuses the situation & leaves unemployed workers to fend for themselves. Congress must, at a minimum, extend the PUC program ASAP with retroactive payments, as @BarnettNed explained in @heraldsun. #ExtendUI #SaveThe600 heraldsun.com/opinion/articl…
21/ The LWA proposal is a tacit admission that that the labor market is in horrendous shape, which is why workers are struggling. The problem isn't that the PUC supplement made people "lazy," which is just what recent research has found. news.yale.edu/2020/07/27/yal…
22/ Sadly, this is what one would expect from federal & state policymakers who are unconcerned with the economic crisis, lack a basic understanding of how the UI system works, & have endeavored for years to compromise the system's ability to deliver meaningful aid in a crisis.
23/ As a reminder about the bad shape of North Carolina's labor market, consider how the number of new claims for regular #UnemploymentInsurance is averaging ~60k/week, with the number of new PUA claims averaging ~30k/week. #NCeconomy
24/ Similarly, the number of continuing claims for regular #UnemploymentInsurance is averaging ~169k/week, with the number of continuing PUA claims averaging ~156k/week & the number of POEUC claims averaging ~117k/week. #NCeconomy
25/25 All ending PUC before conditions normalize did is punish working people for actions out of their control, increase hardship, remove spending power from the economy, reduce sales for businesses, & make the recession that much worse. #SaveThe600 #ExtendUI
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