12K jobless claims filed in March, April

Unemployment in Humboldt County has skyrocketed 986.3% since this time in 2019, the state Employment Development Department announced Thursday evening.

The spike shows the historic effect the coronavirus pandemic is having on people’s livelihoods.

In March, there were 6,192 claims filed by Humboldt County residents. In April, an additional 5,846 claims were filed.

In stark contrast, there were 570 claims filed in April 2019.

Some areas fared far worse, such as Orange County which saw a year-over-year increase of 2,389.7% and nearly 355,000 claims.

Closer to home, Mendocino County fared similarly to Humboldt County with more than 7,200 claims filed in March and April and a year-over-year increase of 932.9%.

Trinity and Del Norte counties fared better. Del Norte County saw 1,534 unemployment claims in March and April and a year-over-year increase in unemployment of 465%. Trinity County saw 601 claims and an increase of 521%.

Humboldt County did fare better than the state as a whole, which saw unemployment spike by 1,224.3%. In total, in March and April, Californians filed nearly 4 million claims, the majority of which came after Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered the statewide shelter in place on March 19.

Humboldt County businesses have reported more than $41 million in losses since the start of the shelter-in-place to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, according to data provided by Humboldt County Business Resources. That data comes from 783 businesses who have self-reported through May 14.

While the state EDD has reported receiving more than 12,000 claims from Humboldt County residents, the county’s self-reported data notes 2,503 lost jobs, a significant discrepancy. The county notes its data is not “independently verified.”