Nearly 47,000 Unemployment Claims Filed In Illinois For Week Of Oct. 12, Amid COVID-19 Pandemic
CHICAGO (CBS)-- The Illinois Department of Employment Security reported 46,948 new unemployment claims were filed across the state last week, the week of Oct. 12.
That's a slight decrease from the week before, when there were 47,528 new unemployment claims were filed across the state last week, the week of Oct. 5, but a 522% increase over the number of claims filed in the same week last year, when Illinois processed 7,551 claims.
Unemployment claims across the nation have skyrocketed during the pandemic. In Illinois, more than 1.85 million new unemployment claims have been filed since early March.
There were 36,267 new unemployment claims in Illinois the week of Sept. 28.
IDES reported 29,390 new unemployment claims in Illinois the week of Sept. 21.
Another 25,976 claims were filed in Illinois the week of Sept. 14.
There were 27,384 new unemployment claims across the state during the week of Sept. 7.
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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