Unemployment

As soon as next month, New Jerseyans might be able to make their own appointments for in-person visits to unemployment offices to deal with problems getting benefits.

Still sifting through unemployment claims filed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development announced what it calls “the first of many improvements” to streamline the filing process.

The state labor department has started scheduling in-person appointments that will begin being held Monday to help people having trouble with their unemployment claims.

At an often-tense hearing in the Senate Thursday, the state labor commissioner defended his office’s handling of jobless claims during the pandemic and cast doubt on how many people will want in-person help at unemployment offices once that starts up in late March.

Democrats joined Republicans in expressing their frustration that unemployment offices and others aren't fully reopened to the public.

Beside COVID concerns, what the high-risk markets also all have in common is that they are high-density, and would be prone to risk even without a pandemic.

Not only will employers soon pay higher payroll taxes, but now the state is paying interest to the federal government on the loan it has to pay jobless benefits.

Lawmakers from a Shore-area district say they’ve been getting an increased number of requests for help from residents who are victims of unemployment fraud.

Many in NJ are still rejecting jobs to take the summer off on 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.