Georgia unemployment claims down for fifth week

Initial unemployment claims in Georgia declined again last week, as more and more businesses brought back employees laid off to limit the spread of coronavirus.

The state Department of Labor processed 135,254 claims last week, down about 14,000 from the week before, the agency reported Thursday. That marked the fifth weekly decline in claims in the last six weeks.

The labor department paid out $156.4 million in regular unemployment benefits last week, $4.1 million less than the previous week.

In the 12 weeks since Georgia’s economy shut down because of the global pandemic, the state has paid out more than $1.4 billion in regular benefits to unemployed Georgians.

To cope with the growing number of jobless workers, the labor department this week launched the federal Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program, which provides extended financial support to claimants who have exhausted their regular state unemployment benefits.

“Many people who applied for [regular unemployment compensation] in the first weeks of our COVID-19 economic shutdown are rapidly approaching the end of their initial cycle of [state] benefits,” Georgia Commissioner of Labor Mark Butler said Thursday. “This program will give claimants who have exhausted their benefits the ability to continue to receive financial support for up to an additional 13 weeks.”

During the last 12 weeks, the job sectors accounting for the most initial unemployment claims was accommodation and food services with 625,213 claims. The health care and social assistance sector was next with 288,476 claims, followed closely by retail trade with 283,126 claims.