State first-time unemployment claims continue to decline

ATLANTA — Initial unemployment claims in Georgia declined last week, resuming a downward trend that began two months ago, the state Department of Labor reported.

The 43,526 first-time claims filed last week was down 5,895 from the previous week, which saw initial claims increase for the first time in eight weeks.

Since March 21, when Georgia businesses began shutting down to discourage the spread of coronavirus, nearly 3.8 million Georgians have filed initial unemployment claims, more than during the last eight years combined.

The labor department paid out almost $14.5 billion in state and federal unemployment benefits during that time.

Last week, the agency issued $669 million in benefits, mostly through a federal program President Trump launched in August after Congress failed to extend an earlier program that expired at the end of July

The Labor department paid out nearly $500 million through the Lost Wages Assistance program last week, bringing the total to more than $980 million.

The labor department is working with a special task force of state and federal agencies targeting individual and organized crime amid fraud reports. To help identify potential fraud, the agency encourages Georgians to report fraud and abuse on the department’s homepage under Online Services at www.dol.state.ga.us.

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