Labor Dept.: 1.2M N.J. workers have filed for unemployment, payouts up to $8.2B

By
Emily Bader
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The New Jersey Department of Labor & Workforce Development announced on Thursday it received an additional 33,000 new unemployment claims last week, boosting the overall total of claims since mid-March to 1.3 million.

This is the second week in a row new claims increased, the DOL said.

As of June 20, New Jersey has distributed $8.2 billion in unemployment benefits to state residents, the DOL said. This week, it hit a new record, sending out $999 million in weekly benefits.

Nationally for the week, 1.48 million people filed for unemployment, a decrease of 60,000 from last week’s total, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

The department said it launched a new contracted call center last week to increase its capacity for phone calls and elevate claims that need an experienced agent to resolve.

“Early feedback from our new call center indicates many of the workers who have called have complex wage claims or we are waiting for federally required earnings records from another state or the applicant was denied unemployment benefits but has filed an appeal,” Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo said. “Now that we have front-line agents performing essential intake functions, we have been able to shift more experienced claims agents exclusively to these complex cases.”

“Our goal remains to help as many people through the process of creating an account, applying for benefits, and claiming their weekly benefits as quickly as possible,” he said.

New Jersey’s weekly total of unemployment claims: 

Week 1 (March 15-21): 155,815
Week 2 (March 22-28): 206,253
Week 3 (March 29-April 4): 214,836
Week 4 (April 5-11): 141,420
Week 5 (April 12-18): 140,139
Week 6 (April 19-25): 71,996
Week 7 (April 26-May 2): 88,326
Week 8 (May 3-9): 69,689
Week 9 (May 10-16): 42,365
Week 10 (May 17-23): 34,410
Week 11 (May 24-30): 26,752
Week 12 (May 31-June 6): 23,116
Week 13 (June 7-13): 26,392
Week 14 (June 14-20): 33,004
Total: 1,274,563

The state said of the $8.2 billion in total benefits payout since mid-March, $2.6 billion went to state unemployment payouts and $5.6 billion went to federal benefits through the CARES Act.

New Jersey’s weekly breakdown of payments (in millions): 

Week 

NJ UI 

FPUC  

PUA  

PEUC

March 15-21 

 $47.4  

NA 

NA 

NA

March 22-28 

 $57.9  

NA 

NA 

NA

March 29-April 3 

 $89.8  

NA 

NA 

NA

April 4-11 

$140.7  

$154.8 

NA 

NA

April 12-18 

$179.7  

$238.8 

NA 

NA

April 19-25 

$211.1  

$296.3 

NA 

NA

April 26-May 2 

$171.7  

$291.1 

$27.1 

NA

May 3-9 

$244.7  

$502.4 

$51.6 

NA

May 10-16 

$239.7 

$414.0 

$55.6 

NA

May 17-23 

$236.2 

$596.9 

$112.3 

NA

May 24-30 

$242.7 

$553.5 

$87.7 

NA

May 31-June 6

$255.5

$635.2

$56.6

$56.6

June 7-13

$244.5

$573.8

$60.7

$46.5

June 14-20

$248.9

$626.1

$86.6

$37.4

Total 

$2,610.5

$4,882.9 

$538.2 

$140.5