⁍ Many of the millions of Americans who have filed for unemployment are experiencing delays in getting approved for benefits and actually receiving them.
⁍ At the end of June, 66% of those who filed initial claims for unemployment insurance were waiting to receive benefits, according to a One Fair Wage study.
⁍ The US went into sweeping lockdowns in mid-March to contain the spread of coronavirus, putting millions out of work in just weeks.
⁍ While the US economy has added back some lost jobs since states began to reopen, the unemployment rate is still 11.1%.

– Many of the millions of Americans who have filed for unemployment benefits are experiencing delays in getting approved for benefits and actually receiving them, Business Insider reports. At the end of June, 66% of those who filed initial claims for unemployment insurance were waiting to receive benefits, according to a One Fair Wage study. “Basically people are being made to choose between their lives and their livelihoods,” the president of One Fair Wage says. In Michigan, for example, the more than 2.4 million workers who have filed for state and federal benefits since March 15 caused a backlog that took months to complete. It took the state unemployment insurance agency until July 6 to make a determination on eligible unpaid claims filed between March 15 and May 1, it said in a statement. Thus far, it has paid or approved 97% of eligible workers for benefits, and there are still nearly 39,000 unpaid claims to be resolved and 20,000 being held for other reasons. Restaurant workers, who in many states don’t make minimum wage, faced additional obstacles in applying for unemployment benefits. While 44% of all workers were waiting for benefits in May, One Fair Wage found that for restaurant workers, 60% were still waiting for unemployment benefits.

Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/unemployment-benefits-workers-receiving-delays-economy-reopens-2020-6