US DOL Unemployment Weekly Claims Report
| Seasonally Adjusted (SA) Initial Claims Volume | Change from Prior Week | Year over Year Change in SA Initial Claims Volume | Unadjusted Insured UI Rate | Insured UI Volume | Year over Year Change in
Insured UI Volume |
||
| 2/19/2022 | 232,000 | -17,000 | -515,000 | 2/12/2022 | 1.4% | 1,912,532 | -2,916,150 |
| 2/20/2021 | 747,000 | -100,000 | 2/13/2021 | 3.4% | 4,828,682 |
For more information, please visit https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/OPA/newsreleases/ui-claims/20220331.pdf
MICHIGAN – Delayed Unemployment Documents
- Michigan recently sent out a notification that they are still working through the COVID-19 backlog and as a result may be requesting information for claims filed a year ago or longer. As your address of record, Thomas & Company will receive these documents first and will make every effort to respond to these requests with the information we have on file. Should we need additional information, we will reach out and wanted you to be aware that these documents are a part of the MI UIA backlog. In a recent newsletter, Michigan stated “UIA has been experiencing a large backlog due to the immense workload created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The agency is reviewing, and processing previously submitted documents. As a result, you may receive a request for information — such as Remuneration-Earned Income, separation information and/or monetary redeterminations — for claims that may be a year or more old. Please do not disregard these letters or requests.” If you receive any documents directly from MI UIA, please forward those documents to your Thomas & Company analyst to handle.
TENNESSEE – Base Period Claims are Being Issued in Bulk
- Tennessee employers may have noticed they are receiving a large number of Base Period Claim notices all at the same time with relatively short deadlines for a response. Please be aware that this is not a Thomas & Company issue. We are processing these claims as soon as they are received. In conversations with TN, they have identified the issue on their end and are working with their vendor on a solution. We received another batch of Base Period claims today with a due date of March 4, 2022. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work with TN to resolve this issue.
WASHINGTON – Disaster Unemployment Assistance for Northwest WA Flooding Available
President Biden declared a major disaster for the November floods and mudslides in Clallam, Whatcom, Skagit, and Lummi Counties, as well as the Nooksack Indian and Quileute Tribes in Northwest Washington state. Workers who live or work in these areas and are unemployed as a direct result of the disaster may be eligible for Disaster Unemployment Assistance or DUA. WA launched the DUA program on February 7, 2022 and will accept applications through March 9, 2022. DUA can provide benefits for individuals who do not qualify for regular unemployment – either because they did not have enough covered employment to qualify, they have exhausted their regular benefits or other reasons related to the disaster. Employees impacted by the disaster can apply for DUA benefits and be paid retroactively for the weeks they were unemployed as a direct result of the disaster. As an employer, you can request relief of benefit charges if your employee received UI as a direct result of the disaster. For more information about the DUA eligibility requirements and how to apply for benefits or relief of charges, please visit https://media.esd.wa.gov/esdwa/Default/ESDWAGOV/newsroom/ui-advisory-committee/esd-roundtable-presentation-feb.2022.pdf
