COVID-19 In Illinois: More Than 65,000 Unemployment Claims Filed Statewide Last Week
CHICAGO (CBS)-- The Illinois Department of Employment Security reported 65,596 new unemployment claims were filed across the state last week, the week of Nov. 15.
Illinois' unemployment claims were among 778,000 total filed across the country last week.
The most recent claims represent a 40% decrease from the prior week when 46,800 unemployment claims were filed in Illinois, and a 482% increase over the 11,266 claims filed during the same week of 2019.
Illinois processed 67,158 unemployment claims the week of Nov. 1.
There were 73,515 unemployment claims filed in Illinois the week of Oct. 26.
Another 53,138 new unemployment claims were filed during the week of Oct. 19 in Illinois.
A total of 46,948 new unemployment claims were filed across the state, the week of Oct. 12.
There were 47,528 unemployment claims filed In Illinois during the week of Oct. 5.
IDES has faced ongoing struggles filling claims during the pandemic. CBS 2 spoke with four IDES employees in May. For the first time, these workers offered a glimpse into the challenges IDES employees face daily working to get thousands of new unemployment claims processed, as well as the factors they believe contribute to why so many people have not received their benefits.
CBS 2 has extensively reported about how unemployment has surged in Illinois and neighboring states during the coronavirus pandemic.
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