The Georgia Department of Labor has paid more than $3 billion in regular state UI benefits during the last 24 weeks, more than the last seven years combined ($2.852 billion). Claims numbers have dropped below 100,000 for a sixth consecutive week. For week ending Aug. 29, initial claims totaled 51,283, down 5,485 from the prior week. The GDOL issued $204 million in regular unemployment benefits and federal funds for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) payments, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) payments, Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) supplements, and State Extended Benefits.  Since March 21, $12.9 billion in state and federal unemployment benefits has been paid to eligible Georgians in unemployment benefits.  

“I don’t believe anyone would have imagined that we would disperse more than $3 billion in regular state UI benefits in less than six months,” said Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler.  “It is a testament to my staff here at the GDOL who have processed more than 3.5 million claims.  92% of claimants who have been determined to be possibly eligible have received UI benefits.” 

From week ending 3/21/2020 through 8/29/2020, 3,596,544 regular UI initial claims have been processed, more than the last eight years combined (3.3 million). Of those, 2,410,989 were employer filed claims (67%), and 1,185,555 were individual claims. 

The number of initial unemployment claims filed throughout the United States for the week ending Aug. 29 was 881,000, a decrease of 130,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 1,011,000.

The federal Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) Program is a program that receives funding from the Federal Emergency Management Administration’s (FEMA) Disaster Relief Fund.  The GDOL is in the testing phase of the implementation of the LWA program that will distribute an additional $300 supplement to eligible individuals receiving UI benefits from Georgia’s state and federal unemployment insurance programs.  The GDOL anticipates testing to be completed soon and the issuance of payments to begin by mid-September. The GDOL recently received approval for an additional two weeks of LWA benefits for eligible claimants. Georgia has qualified for all five weeks that states are eligible to apply for.  

LWA is currently time-limited to an initial five-week period and not everyone who has filed an unemployment claim will be eligible.  Additional benefits are contingent upon availability of remaining FEMA funds.  States will be required to request funding every week for additional benefits. The period of assistance is Aug. 1, 2020 to Dec. 27, 2020 or at the termination of the program, whichever is sooner.  Assistance from FEMA for providing the LWA supplement payment may terminate prior to Dec. 27, 2020 if:  FEMA expends the funds appropriated for supplemental lost wages assistance; or Congress passes a new FPUC Program. 

Individuals do not need to call or apply separately for this benefit. This additional payment automatically be issued to eligible claimants currently receiving state or federal unemployment benefits for the weeks ending Aug. 1, Aug. 8, Aug. 15, Aug. 22, and Aug 29. Eligibility for the LWA Program is based upon an individual’s weekly benefit determination – an amount calculated by a claimant’s reported wages. Individuals must have received a weekly benefit amount determination of at least $100 to be eligible for LWA.  He/she must also be unemployed or partially unemployed due to disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Information on LWA and other unemployment and reemployment programs can be found on the agency’s webpage at www.dol.state.ga.us. 

Last week, the GDOL issued more than $50 million in PUA payments to eligible individuals who are self-employed, gig workers, 1099 independent contractors, employees of churches, employees of non-profits, or those with limited work history who do not qualify for state unemployment benefits. The PUA program may provide benefits to claimants that did not have enough wages to establish a valid regular state UI claim but were prohibited from employment due to COVID-19.  From week ending 3/21/2020 through 8/29/2020, 330,645 PUA claims have been validated.  

In addition, the total federal funds issued to Georgians for FPUC totaled over $34 million last week. Over the past 23 weeks, the GDOL has issued more than $8.5 billion in FPUC funds. FPUC provided an additional $600 weekly payment to any individual eligible for both state and federal unemployment compensation programs. This program ended July 31. 

From week ending 3/21/2020 through 8/29/2020, the sectors with the most regular UI initial claims processed included Accommodation and Food Services, 858,572, Health Care and Social Assistance, 422,810, Retail Trade, 387,184, Administrative and Support Services, 303,726, and Manufacturing, 278,086. 

As of 9/1/2020, the trust fund balance was $47,562,149, down $2.5 billion, or 98 percent, from the 3/24/2020 balance of $2,547,476,454. 

Today, over 148,000 jobs are listed online at EmployGeorgia.com for Georgians to access. The GDOL offers online resources for finding a job, building a resume, and assisting with other reemployment needs.

At this time, GDOL career centers are remaining closed to the public.  All online services are still available as the staff continues to answer calls, process claims, respond to customer inquiries, and provide assistance to applicants. The GDOL will reopen offices to the public as soon as social distancing can be effectively implemented to protect both staff and customers. 

Information on filing an unemployment claim, details on how employers can file partial claims, and resources for other reemployment assistance can be found on the agency’s webpage at dol.georgia.gov.