Minnesota’s unemployment has sharply increased after the government response to the coronavirus. This response that included the “stay at home” order caused a shut down of all “non-essential” businesses.
According to the Department of Labor, initial unemployment claims went up 112,428 in the week ending March 21. This was over 2,700% increase from the week before, where there were only 4,010 claims. The increase in unemployment applications has been so drastic that the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development posted on Twitter, asking people to apply online because of high demand.
Given the volume of applications, please use the online system to apply for benefits and request payments – view online application schedule below. Have questions about whether you qualify for UI, how to apply and what the process is? Please visit here: https://t.co/LfbSDAlB0f pic.twitter.com/KjAZ0g2CB7
— MN DEED (@mndeed) March 30, 2020
Medical workers are also affected by the changing economy. According to the the Star Tribune, “More than 10,000 Minnesota health care workers have applied for unemployment assistance in the last ten days, more than quadruple the number who applied for the financial assistance in all of last year.”
Minnesota isn’t the only state affected by the coronavirus and the actions taken against it. Record-breaking amounts of people are applying for unemployment. According to the Department of Labor, “In the week ending March 21, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 3,283,000, an increase of 3,001,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This marks the highest level of seasonally adjusted initial claims in the
history of the seasonally adjusted series. The previous high was 695,000 in October of 1982.”
Judah Torgerud
Judah Torgerud is a freelance journalist working with Alpha News to keep the people informed and bring the truth to light. Contact him at whqnu@nycunarjfza.pbz.
