Unemployment

The state's unemployment insurance system, which operates using a decades-old programming language, has been beset with problems since the start of the pandemic.

U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer says New Jersey should use some of its federal COVID recovery funds to pay $500 back-to-work bonuses for unemployed residents.

Unemployed workers aren't required to be looking for work during the pandemic – but they must still certify they're ready, willing, and available to work.

New Jersey has processed Lost Wage Assistance payments through FEMA, of $300 a week for up to 6 weeks.

“The Department of Labor has failed so many of the communities throughout the state of New Jersey. There needs to be more transparency and a review of the department,” said Sen. Mike Testa, R-Cumberland.

For those who have begun collecting unemployment, what must be paid out in taxes relative to the assistance a laid-off or furloughed worker receives?

A Senate committee votes Tuesday on a bill allowing civil-service employees to be transferred during emergencies as a way to help process unemployment claims.

The number of new unemployment claims is rising again in NJ and now exceeds 1 million since the pandemic began, according to the labor department.

Another 141,420 New Jerseyans filed new unemployment claims last week, bringing the four-week total of layoffs and furloughs in the state after coronavirus-related shutdowns to more than 718,300.

Roughly one of every seven New Jerseyans covered by unemployment insurance has filed new claims for benefits in three weeks since coronavirus lockdown began.