Numbers are in and they are showing an astounding 3.3 million people filed for unemployment insurance in America over the last week, according to the Labor Department.
The statistic is a record-breaking number marking the largest amount of claims in a single week for the last five decades. However, the number is a far cry from reality as coronavirus has forced more and more businesses to layoff employees or to suspend work.
The 3.3 million does not account for people who have yet to file a claim or has not been counted due to the overwhelming of the Labor Department system.
For California, the process was already very slow and antagonizing, with man-made mistakes and outright rejections causing claims to be processed slowly as people have to go through the process of appeals or resubmission of their claims.
Now, when applicants go to the Employment Development Department (EDD) website, it leaves a laughable statement as if they are really ramping up the workflow.
“Due to current events, we are experiencing a large increase in claims filed and are extending our staff resources to keep up with the demand…Thank you for patience,” a message on the website reads.
The Senate will pass a $2 trillion stimulus package to assist with people who normally would not qualify for unemployment and also to give $1,200 stimulus checks to the average American despite their income.
Under the rescue bill, unemployment benefits would include a weekly distribution of $600 to supplement the average maximum weekly payout of $450.
In the meantime, President Donald Trump is rushing to get people back working to avoid a potential Great Depression.
Trump announced that he intends to have the workforce in full force by Easter in April. At the moment, there are 574,834 coronavirus cases worldwide.
