NJ’s jobless claims top 1 million amid COVID-19 pandemic (updated)

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New Jersey’s unemployment topped one million, according to the federal labor department Thursday, as the Murphy administration shovels through an ever-growing pile of jobless claims fueled by a global pandemic and virtual lockdown of the state’s and nation’s economies.

During the week ending May 2, 87,540 New Jerseyans filed for unemployment, as did 3.19 million Americans, the U.S. Department of Labor reported on Thursday – meaning roughly 33 million U.S. citizens are without work.

For the week ending April 30, 71,996 New Jerseyans filed for unemployment. According to Thursday data from the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, 88,326 New Jerseyans filed for unemployment.

Numbers from the state’s labor department differ from those at the federal level because the USDOL uses “advanced reporting,” according to the NJDOL.

At 8.82 million residents, the updated jobless levels amount to roughly 1 in 9 New Jerseyans, or 11.5 percent of the state, who’ve lost their jobs, have been furloughed or laid off since the pandemic took hold at the start March, and are now seeking unemployment benefits.

A report last week indicated unemployment could blow past the state’s record-high of 9.8 percent in 2010 at the height of the Great Recession a decade ago.

Dozens of readers have contacted NJBIZ with woes of unemployment claims that have languished since their filing as far back as March.

According to Murphy during a Wednesday evening appearance on News 12 New Jersey’s “Ask the Governor” segment, State Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo told him that the department will likely “be through the backlog by early next week.”

“Then it will be a normal, as-you-go reality,” Murphy said.

Asaro-Angelo is scheduled to appear at Murphy’s daily COVID-19 press briefing in Trenton at 1 p.m. on May 7.

“As we pass the milestone of one million claims filed – a number so staggering, we never thought we would come close to reaching it in such a compressed period of time,” he said in a Thursday morning statement.

“I don’t want folks to think we’re not paying attention … This has been an overwhelming avalanche,” the governor said Wednesday, stressing that the state’s residents would not “lose one penny that’s coming to you.”

Freelancers and gig workers who’ve waited weeks for unemployment benefits under a federal expansion program known as the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program finally saw their checks come through on Tuesday. The federal labor department reported that last week’s numbers included those claimants.

During the week ending April 18, 11 states paid out PUA benefits to 52,305 freelancers and gig workers, the USDOL said. The state’s labor department said it processed 72,000 PUA claims during the week that ended May 2.

Asaro-Angalo said at Thursday’s COVID-19 briefing in Trenton, that more specific numbers will be available during the USDOL’s next unemployment report, which is due May 14.

And the state’s labor department said that as of April 30, it paid out $1.9 billion in jobless benefits to unemployed and furloughed workers. That includes $900 million from the state’s $2.4 billion unemployment fund.

“Our process is one we are required to follow to protect claimants, prevent fraud, protect the trust fund’s solvency and safeguard New Jersey businesses,” Asaro-Angalo added. “It’s heartbreaking to hear tens of thousands of payments held up because of an unintentional certification mistake.”

The remaining $989 million comes from outside payments, such as the federal pot of unemployment money. Claimants are entitled an additional $600 per week through the end of July in jobless benefits, and 13 additional weeks of benefits.

While states have the option to tap into the $260 billion pot of money for shoring up individual state’s unemployment funds, Asaro-Angalo assured that New Jersey is still “far away from that.”

“We were in really good shape,” he added. “The trust fund was one of the most solvent it’s ever been leading up to this pandemic.”

“Our process is one we are required to follow to protect claimants, prevent fraud, protect the trust fund’s solvency and safeguard New Jersey businesses,” Asaro-Angalo added. “It’s heartbreaking to hear tens of thousands of payments held up because of an unintentional certification mistake.”

To contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus, Gov. Phil Murphy enacted a virtual statewide lockdown and sweeping restrictions. Public gatherings and nonessential travel are banned. Any businesses where groups of people congregate have to keep their doors closed, and that ranges from casinos to theaters, concert venues to malls, tattoo parlors to salons, and dine-in restaurants to bars.

To avoid the risk of exposure to COVID-19, many more people opt to stay indoors rather than leave home and spend money – or they have lost their jobs and in turn, tightened their belts.

That’s led to a domino effect; while the measures have been successful in containing the outbreak, businesses have seen steep drops in revenue, forcing hundreds of thousands of layoffs or furloughs.

Republican lawmakers, business groups and even Senate Democrats, led by Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-3rd District, have pushed the governor to roll back more restrictions as the state creeps toward Memorial Day and the lucrative Jersey Shore summer tourism season.

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 10:35 a.m. EST on May 7, 2020 following the release of the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s data to include updated figures and comments from Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo.
This story was updated at 2:54 p.m. EST on May 7, 2020 to include comments from Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo’s appearance at that day’s COVID-19 press briefing held by Gov. Phil Murphy in Trenton.