Historic month for jobless

Florida’s weekly claims decline to 173,191, but it was the worst month ever for unemployment

Florida ended its worst month ever for unemployment filings as jobless workers wracked up 173,191 claims — a decline from the previous week — to close out April reeling from the coronavirus pandemic.

The state report represented a significant drop from the 433,103 claims filed the previous week. Since March, the overwhelmed Department of Economic Opportunity has been submitting estimated claims figures to the U.S. Department of Labor as it struggles to weed out duplicate and incomplete claims that continue to clog its system.

The federal Labor Department on Thursday reported 3,169,000 filings nationwide, a decrease of 677,000 from the previous week’s revised number of 3,846,000. The seven-week running total — starting from when business shutdowns started in earnest — is 33.5 million.

Economists expect a record loss of roughly 20 million jobs nationwide in April; those numbers will be released Friday. On

Wednesday, the payroll processing firm ADP said the nation’s private sector lost that many jobs in April as the pandemic continued to savage the economy.

According to the latest website posting by the state Department of Economic Opportunity, more than $1 billion in benefits has been paid out to jobless workers in Florida since March 15, although two-thirds of that

money came from the U.S. government through the $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief act.

Out of more than 1.1 million claims verified by the department, 769,843 had been processed, but 481,497 people had received benefits, meaning almost 4 of 10 people are still waiting for money. It’s a record that continues to frustrate laidoff workers who are desperate for money in the face of rising unpaid bills.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has said the state’s overwhelmed claims system is making progress in paying benefits to the unemployed and processing their applications. But the agency still has some accounting problems to resolve for people who say they are not receiving all of the benefits they deserve.

Although most of the benefits paid since March 15 have been fueled by federal money, laid-off workers reported Thursday that the $600 weekly payments authorized by the relief act are sporadic at best. The idea behind the act was that the federal government would provide the funds, but the states would distribute it.

Not so for Janet Yuen, a Wilton Manors resident who lost her job as a fundraiser.

She said she has received only one $275 weekly state payment and no $600 payments from the federal pool of money after filing for unemployment on March 22. She had to reapply for benefits in early April on instructions from the DEO because the fiscal quarter had changed.

“I am deemed active and eligible,” she said, “yet I have not received any further payments.”

She said she is looking to organize other unemployed people who have encountered similar problems.

Lawrence Stern, of West Palm Beach, who once helped arrange loans for businesses, is one of those in search of missing federal money. He said that by his calculations, the state should have sent him three $600 payments.

So far, he has received three state payments of $275 each but just one $600 payment in federal funds.

Stern, who said he is studying for a license to sell health insurance, said he also foresees yet another logistical problem facing South Florida’s jobless: the state could again require people to look for work and report back to the state. DeSantis had waived that requirement, but the waiver expires Friday.

Although DeSantis has authorized the reopening of most of Florida’s economy, he hasn’t done so for Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

So with most businesses still on lockdown, Stern wondered where people will start looking for jobs if the waiver isn’t extended by the governor for a second time.

“I foresee a disaster coming,” Stern said.