Labor Dept.: N.J. unemployment benefits payout hits $11.6B

The New Jersey Department of Labor & Workforce Development announced on Thursday it has distributed $11.6 billion worth of unemployment benefits to workers in the state since the COVID-19 pandemic began 18 weeks ago.

The NJDOL said it took in 25,804 new unemployment claims for the week ending on July 18, a 33% decline from the week before. It also paid out $825 million in weekly state and federal income benefits. Over the past four weeks, the department has received an average of 35,000 initial claims per week.

“While we’re pleased to see a gradual slowing of the rate of new unemployment claims, we are painfully aware of the unprecedented number of our fellow New Jerseyans who are struggling financially as a direct result of COVID-19,” Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo said. “I couldn’t be more proud of our staff who have been working non-stop to provide an average of almost $10,000 in vital economic support to 1.2 million New Jerseyans during this difficult time. Nonetheless, we are mindful that some workers continue to wait for resolution of their cases, and we are making every effort to get them a determination quickly.”

Nationally for the week ending July 18, 1.416 million people filed for unemployment for the first time, a decrease of 109,000 from last week’s total, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

The department said it issued more than $7 billion in federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation payments to 1.1 million workers since the program began at the start of April. July 25 is the last week to include the $600 weekly addition, however, it will continue to be paid out on all eligible claims from April 4 to July 25 even after the program ends.

In the first two weeks of state Extended Benefits, the NJDOL sent out more than $6 million t0 10,586 claimants who exhausted all of their other aid.

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
Week 15 (June 28-July 4): 47,391
Week 16 (July 5-11): 38,150
Week 17 (July 12-18): 25,804
Total: 1,413,873  

New Jersey’s workforce, however, is recovering.

WalletHub recently identified which states’ workforces are experiencing the quickest recovery from COVID-19 based on three metrics on changes in unemployment, and found that New Jersey ranked No. 4 out of the states whose unemployment claims have recovered the most since last week and No. 3 out of the states who have recovered the most since the start of COVID-19.

Other key New Jersey findings from the report:

• 217.30% change in unemployment claims (latest week vs. last year);
• 67.09% change in unemployment claims (latest week vs. start of 2020);
• 814.52% change in unemployment claims (since start of COVID vs. last year)
• No. 3 in the change in the number of initial unemployment claims (last week vs. last year);
• No. 3 in the change in the number of initial unemployment claims (since start of COVID vs. last year).

Here are the Top 5 states whose unemployment claims are recovering the fastest:

1. Michigan;
2. Oregon;
3. Pennsylvania;
4. New Jersey;
5. South Dakota;
6. Missouri;
7. West Virginia;
8. Maine;
9. Massachusetts;
10. Connecticut.

And the slowest:

1. Florida;
2. Georgia;
3. Virginia;
4. Louisiana;
5. New Mexico;
6. Tennessee;
7. Mississippi;
8. Alaska;
9. Nevada.

Below is the weekly breakdown of payments (in millions):