ATLANTA – While initial unemployment claims in Georgia continued to decline last week, the state paid out an all-time record of more than $857 million in state and federal jobless benefits.
That’s almost three times the benefits payments the state agency issued during all of last year.
“We are paying more Georgians more benefits than we ever have before,” Georgia Commissioner of Labor Mark Butler said Thursday. “No one would have imagined in the same year we experienced our lowest monthly number of claims since 1975 that we would pay almost three years’ worth of benefits in one week.”
Initial unemployment claims filed during a short holiday week totaled 105,160, down 12,325 from the previous week. That marked the 10th week in a row initial jobless claims in Georgia have gone down.
Since the week of March 21, when Georgia businesses began closing to comply with a shelter-in-place order put in place to discourage the spread of coronavirus, the accommodation and food services job sector has accounted for the most initial unemployment claims, with 732,709 claims filed.
The health care and social assistance sector is next with 348,660 jobless claims, followed closely by retail trade with 330,152 claims.
“Our staff continues to focus daily on unpaid claims, resolving as many of these issues as possible,” Butler said. “As not everyone is eligible for unemployment benefits, it is our responsibility to administer state and federal unemployment programs to the best of our ability making sure we only pay eligible claimants.
“Sometimes, these claims are challenging and require research and attention greatly increasing the time it takes to find resolution.”
More than 116,000 jobs are listed online at EmployGeorgia.com for Georgians to access. The labor department offers online resources for finding a job, building a resume, and assisting with other reemployment needs.