Ga. Dept. of Labor: Unemployment filings are down, but there’s a long way to go

ATLANTA — More than 30 million Americans have filed for unemployment in the past 6 weeks, and many of them were right here in Georgia.

The state’s labor commissioner told Channel 2’s Lauren Pozen that the U.S. number of new filings is down, but there’s still a long way to go.

In the latest report for Georgia, the GDOL processed 266,565 claims, up 19,000 from the week prior.

Since the middle of March, GDOL has processed 1,369,421 regular initial unemployment claims.

Mark Butler said his staff is working around the clock to process all the claims that come in.

But for those waiting to receive a check, they said the help isn't coming fast enough.

“The Georgia Department of Labor is as stressful as the coronavirus,” said hairstylist Pedro Diaz.

Diaz said his first time with filing for unemployment has been a disaster. He said he has yet to see a check for the weeks he's been out of work.

[Here’s how to file for unemployment if your job has been affected by coronavirus]

“It is not that easy,” Diaz said. “When you go to the website, the terminology is confusing. You don’t know what to say, what to put. The whole thing is frustrating."

While each case is individual, Butler said generally many times hold ups come down to details.

“Maybe there was something wrong with their Social Security number, maybe the ID’s don’t match up,” Butler said.

Teacher Morgan Rysdon said she's been experiencing a different type of problem; navigating unemployment when self-employed.

“I realized that you first get denied in order to get filtered into the PUA system. So then it's beginning that process all over again,” Rysdon said.

Rysdon is talking about pandemic unemployment assistance.

To apply, you'll have to first answer some questions set out by the federal government.

Rysdon said those questions can cause a lot of anxiety.

“You get worried. ‘Did I miss something? And did I answer something incorrectly?’” Rysdon said.

Butler said to answer those questions as best you can.

“The good news is because they are self-employed, they are self-attesting, they are unemployed so the process once they submit the application, it will go fairly quickly because the other part has already been done,” Butler said.

Butler said since March 16, $1.4 billion has been paid out in claims. That includes both state and federal.

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