Can job market rise up?
250K Texans file unemployment claims, bringing state total to 2M
Nearly 250,000 people filed for first-time unemployment benefits in Texas last week, according to a weekly report from the Department of Labor, a slowdown from the earlier pace but still about 17 times the number of claims the state received in a week before the pandemic.
Measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus combined with the worst oil bust in history have left about 2 million Texans jobless. Nationally, more than 33 million in have filed first time applications for benefits since business shutdowns began to prevent exposure to the coronavirus. Last week, 3.1 million Americans filed claims.
Claims appear to have peaked at nearly 7 million at the end of March, but the number filing for benefits is well over three times the worst of the Great Recession, which was the worst in 70 years.
Even with the huge numbers of
claims, the data still likely understates the extent of economic damage from the coronavirus in Texas and across the country, since overwhelmed state websites and phone lines prevent an untold number of people from filing claims.
A survey by the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington think tank, found that for every 100 workers filing for unemployment insurance, 37 additional workers could not connect with the unemployment benefits system to make a claim.
The Texas Workforce Commission, which administers unemployment benefits, has struggled to keep up with the rising number of claims. The agency has added computer server space and several call centers in recent weeks to address the backlog.
The agency has paid $3.9 billion in unemployment benefits this year, according to the TWC. A majority of that has been paid through the CARES Act programs, the stimulus bill that expanded unemployment benefits for those not traditionally eligible and that added $600 per week to the benefits of claimants who are out of work because of the pandemic.
As Texas begins to allow businesses to open again following the expiration of stay-at-home orders, some will go back to work, meaning they will no longer qualify for benefits. Texas, however, will allow unemployed people at high risk of becoming seriously ill from contracting the coronavirus and those who have high exposure to family members and others with COVID-19 to receive unemployment benefits even if they receive an offer to go back to work.
People who receive an offer that is significantly below their previous wage or have significantly fewer hours than before their furlough or layoff may also be eligible for continued unemployment benefits as well, according to the TWC, though every claim will be evaluated on a case-bycase basis.