Not-too-distant memories of skyrocketing unemployment benefits claims filed during the 2008-2010 recession should help inform the DOL response to coronavirus-related claims at the state level.
State workforce agencies across the country are turning to the federal government for financial and administrative support as they try to absorb the coronavirus-induced upheaval to their unemployment insurance systems.
The U.S. Department of Labor now has an urgent communication role to play helping states expeditiously pay benefits to what could be millions of people seeking relief after their jobs temporarily or permanently disappeared because of the spread of the new coronavirus.
