The number of Hoosiers filing for unemployment benefits is down significantly from the peak in March. The week ending June 6, 23,604 initial unemployment claims were filed. That’s actually a slight increase from the week before but down from a peak of over 139,000 in March.
Indiana has paid out almost $2.6 billion in state and federal unemployment benefits since March, according to Department of Workforce Development Commissioner Fred Payne.
Those still trying to apply for unemployment should go to unemployment.in.gov. During Friday’s COVID-19 press conference, Payne pointed out that the state’s WorkOne centers focus on providing employment and reemployment services and are not unemployment offices. “Unemployment services are centralized and provided through our online Uplink system,” Payne explained, “and our centralized call center provides the needed support.”
Payne said his department has been able to reduce call wait times to less than 15 minutes by adding more staff and technology.
He added that in addition to offering benefits to those who are unemployed, there’s also help for Hoosiers who are back to work but underemployed. “One of the reasons why we’re focusing on our rapid recovery is to ensure that if there is a Hoosier who desires to have a job that may pay a better wage and they want the training for that job, we have the resources available for them to do that,” Payne said. “And there’s no better time than the present for individuals to look for that training while we have opportunities to pay for it and to defray some of that cost.”
Payne stressed that the Department of Workforce Development will make sure that each eligible Hoosier gets benefits, and everyone interested in a job change can find the tools they need.
