unemployment claims

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits is now at its lowest level since the start of the pandemic.

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits is now at its lowest level since the start of the pandemic. The Department of Labor said for the third straight week, claims have dropped and last week, the fewest number of people applied since March 14, 2020. Here in Connecticut, the unemployment rate is at 6.8%, which is down from 7.4%…

Some are pushing to use American Rescue Plan funds to help pay back the millions of dollars Connecticut borrowed to pay unemployment claims.

Last September the U.S. Department of Labor announced $100 million in funding to support state efforts to combat unemployment fraud. Now we’re getting a glimpse at how much there has been.

The Connecticut Department of Labor has remained one of the pain points in the coronavirus crisis, with 24,000 unemployment applications currently needing to be processed. However, in an exclusive interview with NBC Connecticut Investigates, the agency urged people to be patient, saying it has begun turning things around. Sue Harrington of Branford explained she calls the Connecticut Department of Labor…

Connecticut Department of Labor Commissioner Kurt Westby said Friday his agency is still seeing an “unprecedented number” of unemployment claims because of the coronavirus pandemic, but has managed to reduce processing times to one-to-two weeks from a high of six weeks. The department is in the process of establishing a new consumer contact center, which Westby said will launch in…

The unemployment rate in Connecticut hit 19-percent at its worst in mid-May. We take a closer look at where things are headed next

When it comes to unemployment in Connecticut, certain groups got hit harder than others when coronavirus struck. The nonprofit Connecticut Data Collaborative broke down state unemployment claims. It said people 20 to 29 years old accounted for almost 19% of Connecticut unemployment claims between March 15 and May 10, and the next age group, 30 to 39, didn’t fare much…

The state Department of Labor estimates that the state’s unemployment rate is at 17 percent

The state Department of Labor said Thursday that the state’s unemployment rate appears to be much higher that data from the federal government reflects, that letters are going out to claimants who might be eligible for an extension of unemployment compensation due to the COVID-19 pandemic and they are adding phone lines to assist residents in need of assistance....

The state has now received more than 515,000 unemployment claims since March 13, and many applicants are still having issues getting their payments

Self-employed residents in Connecticut who are out of work due to the coronavirus pandemic can now apply for unemployment and could receive payments in about a week if their applications were approved. The link to the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program went live on the state Department of Labor website on Thursday. Click here to use it. Deputy Commissioner Danté...

The Connecticut Department of Labor launched a new system Thursday for self-employed residents to be able to apply for federal unemployment benefits. The benefits fall under the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program. Under the federal guidelines, self-employed individuals must first apply through the Connecticut unemployment system and then will be able to apply on the state’s PUA online...

With thousands still waiting on unemployment checks, getting answers from the Department of Labor hasn’t been easy but NBC CT Investigates seeks answers on the state’s response times

The state’s labor commissioner says the state is finally catching up on claims and reducing a six week backlog to one week by the weekend

The state Department of Labor has received more than 400,000 unemployment applications from people who are out of work amid the COVID-19 pandemic and officials said Thursday that more than 320,000 have been processed and they have issued more than $230 million in benefits. Connecticut residents who have filed for unemployment have expressed frustrations about the system, which Connecticut Department…

5.25 million people filed unemployment claims in the week ending April 11, bringing to total claims filed in the last month to about 22 million.

The Department of Labor said it is working overtime and weekends trying to process the influx of unemployment claims.

Gov. Lamont said Wednesday that he is strongly urging people to wear masks in public and he may include that as a requirement in an upcoming executive order.

Wilfredo Erba’s story may sound familiar to those who’ve been laid off because of the COVID-19 crisis and tried to file for unemployment.  Furloughed less than a month into a new job, he’s been trying for weeks to speak to a someone at the Department of Labor. “No matter what I tried I couldn’t get through, the system wouldn’t...