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Initial jobless claims fall nationally, rise in Illinois

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Illinois

* Still bad…

Weekly unemployment claims fell far more than expected last week, as the labor market recovery took a stride forward even as harsh winter weather compounded with the coronavirus pandemic over the past several weeks.

The Department of Labor released its weekly report on new jobless claims Thursday at 8:30 a.m. ET. Here were the main metrics from the report, compared to consensus data compiled by Bloomberg:

Initial jobless claims, week ended February 20: 730,000 vs. 825,000 expected and revised 841,000 during prior week

Continuing claims, week ended February 13: 4.419 million vs. 4.460 million expected and revised 4.520 million during prior week

* CBS 2…

The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) reported 68,383 new unemployment claims were filed during the week of Feb. 15, a nearly 10% increase from the previous week, when 62,369 people filed.

CBS 2 is tracking over 3.1 million total claims filed since early March.

There were 40,008 new unemployment claims were filed during the week of Feb. 1 in Illinois.

There were 95,481 new unemployment claims filed during the week of Jan. 18 in Illinois.

There were 95,472 new unemployment claims filed during the week of Jan. 11 in Illinois.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Feb 25, 21 @ 1:18 pm

Comments

Unfortunately the numbers are meaningless unless we understand how many and percentage wise of the “new” claims from Jan. and early Feb especially are bogus? IDES needs to say how many false claims they have stopped on their own, and how many have been reported by innocent people who have had unemployment claims made using their names and socials.

Comment by Responsa Thursday, Feb 25, 21 @ 2:01 pm
“ - Responsa - Thursday, Feb 25, 21 @ 2:01 pm:”

Thank you, they tried with my name three times so far. This is very stressful. Also, I know MANY others that this has happened to and it is very scary

Comment by Jason Thursday, Feb 25, 21 @ 2:11 pm
Lourdes Duarte seems to be among the very few who are dogging this terrible situation. She herself got hit as have I (only once so far as far as I am aware). Cyber criminals are probably well aware of the dumpster fire that is IDES. So of course they’re going to take advantage where the potential pickings are better.

https://wgntv.com/news/wgn-investigates/36-billion-lost-to-fraudulent-unemployment-claims/

Comment by Responsa Thursday, Feb 25, 21 @ 2:21 pm
I have filed 3 seperate fraud complaints with IDES, in October, January, and February. Random fraudulent unemployment applications and benefit cards, issued KeyBank, keep arriving at my house, addressed to strangers. IDES has yet to respond. I have even tried mailing complaints with signature confirmation.

Comment by Shane Falco Thursday, Feb 25, 21 @ 2:29 pm
I have one personal fraud complaint pending. I was astonished to receive a Notice in the mail that I had applied for such benefits. I never filed for benefits. I also have eight clients with fraud complaints. If you are collecting Workers’ Compensation benefits and off from a work injury, and you apply for Unemployment Insurance, a presumption that you are capable of working is raised. When a fraudulent claim is filed in that situation, it also can affect a pending WC claim. Of course, the fraudsters could care less about the harm they cause others.

Comment by Louis G Atsaves Thursday, Feb 25, 21 @ 3:25 pm
Shane Falco, at least those cards/letters are in other names, it’s more troublesome when they come in your name (like mine did)

Comment by former state employee Thursday, Feb 25, 21 @ 4:12 pm
People are scamming unemployment benefits big time in IL. That could be why it is higher in IL.

Comment by Mama Thursday, Feb 25, 21 @ 8:34 pm