Initial unemployment claims continue to decline in Delaware as employers deal with a labor shortage that shows few signs of abating.
For the week ending on Feb. 19, unemployment insurance claims paid out totaled $1.46 million. The total number of claims was 311.
Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, nearly $1.5 billion in unemployment payments have been issued. Nearly 274,000 claims have been filed since the beginning of the pandemic. For a time, many businesses were closed or limited in their operations due to Covid restrictions.
The federal government has picked up the $1.1 billion of the unemployment insurance costs, with the state kicking in the remainder. In addition, the state has used federal stimulus funds to shore up the unemployment insurance system. Those actions kept jobless insurance rates steady for employers and employees.
Federal pandemic unemployment assistance for free-lance and other “gig” workers such as Uber-Lyft drivers not covered by the unemployment insurance system totaled $163.3 million, with 9,308 claims paid out of 15,337 submitted.
The PUA system dealt with a large number of fraudulent claims. Self-employed workers do not have a paper trail of wage reports kept under the unemployment insurance system.
Last week, the state Labor Department issued a report showing that job openings continue to exceed the number of unemployed.
