People wait in line to attend a job fair at SoFi Stadium on Sept. 9, 2021, in Inglewood, California.
Patrick T. Fallon | Afp | Getty Images
These days the U.S. unemployment system is somewhat of an anomaly.
Almost three years after the Covid-19 pandemic caused the worst jobless crisis in the U.S. since the Great Depression, unemployment has recovered to near-historic lows. Applications for unemployment insurance have been at or below their pre-pandemic trend for the better part of a year.
Yet Americans who need jobless benefits aren’t getting them quickly — a dynamic at odds with an apparent lack of stress on the system.
The federal government considers a first payment “timely” if states issue funds within 21 days of an initial claim for benefits. In March 2020, 97% of payments were timely; today, the share is 78%, on average, according to U.S. Department of Labor data.
The Labor Department views an 87% share as the barometer of success for first-payment timeliness.
The result is worse…
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