WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) - The number of people in North Carolina who’ve applied for unemployment benefits since the coronavirus pandemic began is at 1.31 million.
The Winston-Salem Journal reports that the figure was released Monday in a report from the N.C. Division of Employment Security.
The agency said that some people have reached the end of one unemployment benefit program and had to switch to another. For instance, they may have exhausted their 12 weeks of regular state benefits and began a 13-week federal extended pandemic program.
That means the actual number of claims is even higher because some people have had to file for more than one unemployment insurance program. Since the middle of March, people in North Carolina have filed a combined 2.49 million state and federal jobless claims.
The total amount that’s been paid out is about $8.2 billion.
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