RALEIGH — Gov. Roy Cooper on Thursday evening delivered what he hopes is relief for the nearly half-million North Carolinians who have filed for unemployment since March 16.
That’s the day before the governor prohibited dine-in service at restaurants and bars. The Division of Employment Security said Thursday 497,000 claims have been put in since, and 87 percent are marked related to COVID-19. Last week, lawmakers were told by the restaurant industry’s association that 350,000 of 500,000 restaurant positions have been eliminated.
Cooper issued an executive order that allows employers to file a batch of claims on behalf of their employees. The governor’s office said that should get benefits out quicker.
“By temporarily eliminating some hurdles for employers,” Cooper said, “we hope to get benefits in the hands of those who need them faster.”
His order may not be enough.
Social media is filled with complaints about the system. So, too, are the inboxes and phone lines of lawmakers. There is a consensus of getting knocked off the system, waiting on hold for hours and not knowing if requests have been processed.
In a release, state Sen. Jim Perry of Lenoir County said, “This is a textbook case of government inefficiency. These citizens don’t have time to wait for benefits. They need them now.”
He said 90 percent of people filing have “major” problems.
In the week ending last Saturday, North Carolina’s DES processed 137,600 applications. And that’s a 20 percent drop from the week before.
A normal week, prior to COVID-19, was 3,000.
The number of people filing for unemployment in the state is roughly 9 percent of the workforce eligible for unemployment insurance. In a federal report earlier Thursday, 6.6 million people filed for unemployment last week and 1 in 10 across the country — 16.8 million Americans — have filed in the last three weeks.
State DES Chief Lockhart Taylor has said more call center workers were coming, and other state employees are being trained to handle claims questions.
The first $600 weekly benefit payments approved by Congress won’t start until April 17. The initiative helping independent contractors and self-employed workers won’t start until April 25.