Unemployment benefits weeks late in almost all states; federal pandemic unemployment will expire soon

Labeled screenshot of Pew Charitable Trusts map; for the interactive version, click here.

Unemployment payments are running weeks behind in almost every state because of the increased caseload, and the backlog has caused some people to miss out entirely on the enhanced benefits offered by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act until next July.

"States were first slammed with benefit applications in March, when claims jumped from 282,000 to almost 6.9 million, and new claims continue to pour in at an unprecedented rate of more than 700,000 a week," Tim Henderson reports for Stateline. "Massive delays and a chorus of complaints led to shakeups in state labor departments, expanding computer capacity and even calling in the National Guard to answer phone lines . . . In some cases, it has taken legal action to break the logjam. It’s a problem states are wrestling with in different ways, ranging from adding phone staff to hiring contractors, and a challenge President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team has made a priority."

As of Nov. 1, only three states (North Dakota, Rhode Island, and Wyoming) met the federal standard of sending out payments to 87 percent of applicants within three weeks. "The 87% standard, set in 2005 by the U.S. Department of Labor, carries no penalties but requires states to have a plan to correct the problem," Henderson reports. "Before the pandemic, almost every state was at or above 87%."

South Dakota had the lowest timeliness rate in October, with only 18.8% of payments meeting the federal standard; that's compared to 98% of payments in January, Henderson reports. Kentucky was next slowest, at 27.1%, and Maryland was next at 27.9%.

In related news, unless new funding is approved, "approximately 12 million out-of-work Americans are expected to lose federal unemployment benefits this month when coronavirus aid programs established through the CARES Act expire," Andrea Noble reports for Route Fifty. "Around 7.3 million people will lose Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, which was created to assist workers left out of the normal unemployment system, such as freelancers and gig workers, when the program expires Dec. 26, according to a new report by The Century Foundation."