Alabama pays out more than $372 million in unemployment claims, hopes new online tool will speed processing
Published 9:27 am Tuesday, April 28, 2020
A new tool was launched Tuesday to allow some job seekers in Alabama to speed up the claims process for unemployment benefits, according to the state Department of Labor.
The UI Claims Tracker enables people who are eligible for the government’s Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) to upload their income documents directly, a department news release stated.
More than $372 million in employment benefits was distributed to nearly 180,000 claimants in Alabama between March 16 and April 24, the state agency said.
For those seeking unemployment due to the coronavirus pandemic, 64% have been issued payments, according to the department.
“We know that many people have still not been paid, and we understand that frustration,” Alabama Labor Secretary Fitzgerald Washington said in the release. He added that the agency was working to modify its systems and process claims faster.