MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Thousands of people are still filing new unemployment claims related to the coronavirus outbreak each week in Alabama despite the state’s reopening economy, a new report showed Thursday.
Statistics released by the Alabama Department of Labor showed that 18,671 new applications for jobless benefits were filed last week, and 11,311 of those were related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The numbers are far less than in March and April, when more than 100,000 claims were filed in a single week.
Much of the state’s economy has reopened since the spring and the state’s unemployment rate has declined, although health officials say the virus outbreak is worsening in Alabama as a higher percentage of people test positive for the virus and larger numbers of people are being hospitalized.
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