The Department of Labor released the most recent unemployment insurance (UI) claims data this morning, which shows that another 4.3 million people filed for UI benefits last week (not seasonally adjusted). More people filed for UI in the last week alone than during the worst five-week stretch of the Great Recession. In the past five weeks, more than 24 million workers have applied for UI benefits across the country.

Last week, Connecticut (102,757), Florida (505,137), and West Virginia (46,251) experienced their highest level of initial UI claims filings ever, each seeing the number of claims approximately triple over the week. Last week, Florida saw the largest percent increase in claims (9,869%) relative to the pre-virus period of any state. Florida residents also filed the second most UI claims last week, followed by Texas and Georgia.

Figure A compares UI claims filed last week with filings in the pre-virus period, showing that all states, especially many in the South, continue to struggle. Eight of the 10 states that had the highest percent change in initial UI claims relative to the pre-virus period are in the South: Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, and West Virginia.

Table 1 shows the data displayed in the map as well as the change in UI claims over the last four weeks relative to the same four-week period a year ago.

Even though initial UI claims filings have declined compared with last week, initial UI claims across every state remain remarkably high. Long wait times and burdensome application processes are frustrating workers across the country. A recent report by Michele Evermore of the National Employment Law Project (NELP) outlines how some states—including Florida—have deliberately built their UI systems to discourage applicants and fail workers. This underscores the importance of investing in government services that we may all need at some point in our lives when we are most in need of support.

Policymakers must encourage states to extend stay-at-home orders until the new coronavirus case curve has flattened nationally, and they must take action to protect worker safety. At the same time, they must also address gaps in the existing coronavirus relief and recovery measures, including insufficient aid to state and local governments. The United States could also follow the lead of other countries, such as Denmark and the Netherlands, by undertaking other transformative measures to guarantee paychecks to all workers.