More than 100,000 North Carolinians filed for unemployment in the last week
In just the last seven days, around 113,000 people have filed for unemployment with the N.C. Department of Employment Security, an agency spokesman said Monday.
That’s nearly triple the number of unemployment claims that North Carolinians filed in the rest of 2020 combined. Federal data shows the state had just 33,000 claims total in all of January, February and the first week of March.
Accompanying the deluge of new claims have been numerous complaints about the inability of the unemployment office to handle such massive demand. The agency has already been upgrading its computer servers so the website is less likely to crash under heavy traffic, The News & Observer reported last week. And WTVD reported that the unemployment office is seeking to hire 50 new employees to help handle the workload.
Still, numerous frustrated readers have contacted the N&O to report being put on hold for hours, or encountering glitches or confusing prompts while trying to apply online, at www.des.nc.gov.
“It was very very confusing, and not easy,” said 30-year-old Ben Misleh of Wilmington who was laid off from his job at a catering company because of the new ban on large gatherings. He said he does have some savings, but won’t be able to make it more than a few months without unemployment benefits, especially since no one in the service industry is hiring right now.
North Carolina requires larger companies to notify the state of layoffs, through something called a WARN notice. The latest figures show just some of the widespread impact of the last few days.
BLT Steak, a high-end steakhouse with a location in Charlotte, laid off 57 people there. Sanderling Resort, a luxury hotel in the Outer Banks, laid off 81 people. New World Concepts, which owns several Triangle area restaurants, laid off 120 people. A chain of hotels and restaurants based in Greensboro, Quaintance-Weaver, cut 700 jobs.
Nearly all of the last week’s 113,000 claims were due to COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Larry Parker, a spokesman for the unemployment agency, said 87% of those claims specifically listed COVID-19 as the reason for the layoff. He said they suspect there are probably even more cases where it was the cause but the person just didn’t list it.
When Gov. Roy Cooper ordered bars and restaurants to close except for takeout and delivery last week, he also issued an executive order aimed at helping people who lose their jobs due to coronavirus and the business slowdown in its wake.
Under the order, people who aren’t laid off but have their hours cut might still be able to qualify for unemployment. And people don’t have to look for new jobs in order to keep receiving benefits, as it typically the case.
North Carolina has among the nation’s lowest unemployment benefits. Only about 10% of people who apply for benefits actually qualify, and of those who did qualify in 2019, the average person received $264 a week for eight or nine weeks — a total of around $2,300 over two months, the News & Observer reported last week.
It’s possible that those averages will rise somewhat due to Cooper’s order relaxing restrictions on the program. But Cooper wasn’t able to raise either the weekly payments or the amount of time people can receive them. That has to be done by the state legislature.
Numerous Democrats have called on the legislature’s Republican majority to increase the benefits because of the avalanche of people suddenly losing their jobs. The unemployment fund currently has a $4 billion surplus, due to benefit cuts that Republicans passed in 2013.
Senate leader Phil Berger issued a statement last week that didn’t promise the legislature would increase benefits, but did note that “we have a multibillion(-dollar) surplus for times like this.”
