Paying UC claims has been a costly endeavor for Labor & Industry
It may be a mere microcosm of the economic toll the pandemic is exacting nationwide, but the amount of unemployment compensation dollars disbursed by the state Department of Labor & Industry is beyond the formidable stage – and growing.
Since March 15, the state has paid more than $29.8 billion in UC benefits, L&I secretary Jerry Oleksiak said Monday afternoon during the agency’s weekly virtual news conference. Of that figure, an estimated $5.7 billion has been for regular UC and $24 billion has gone to federal CARES Act programs.
Over the past seven-plus months, the state’s UC staff has grown 160% – to a workforce that has accumulated 370,000 overtime hours and communicated with well over three million claimants. That’s a lot of bleary eyes and extra pay.
L&I has borrowed $523.1 million in a 0% interest loan to bolster its trust fund, which serves as a pooled reserve used to pay UC claimants. Oleksiak said the loan is similar to a line of credit, and that his department has been approved for that funding source through the end of the year. The fund currently has about $35 million.
And this is happening at a time when Pennsylvania’s jobless rate has been dropping. Its September figure was 8.1%, down 2.3 percentage points from August. “We’ve been on a steady decline,” the secretary said.
PUA fraud again was a topic of the weekly briefing. Susan Dickinson, the UC benefits policy director, said there was a third outbreak of scams related to the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program. The initial burst of fraudulent claims occurred nationwide in the spring, followed by a September surge.
All are related to the theft of identities and other information. Those benefits are intended for self-employed, independent contractors, gig workers and others not eligible for regular UC.
Labor & Industry installed the ID.me system three weeks ago an an additional security measure against fraud. New PUA applicants must verify their identities through the new system and will be instructed how to do so through their personal UC dashboards.
Dickinson said staff has handled 117,000 claims thus far through ID.me.
Oleksiak reminded residents they still can apply for funds through the Lost Wages Assistance program, a $300 weekly benefit for those who are or were fully or partly unemployed because of the pandemic. The retroactive payments cover a six-week period, beginning Aug. 1 and ending the week of Sept. 5, when LWA lapsed.
L&I will have its weekly town hall at 1 p.m. Thursday. It is open to the public, by calling 833-380-0719 or live-streaming at https://access.live/PAlabor.