Michigan's unemployment numbers have risen drastically due to COVID-19, the Port Huron Times Herald reported. The U.S. Department of Labor estimated there were more than 750,000 claimants in Michigan alone.
Michelle Kantz, a veteran who had attempted to get in touch with the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency several times before getting through, was laid off due to the pandemic and was worried she would not be able to purchase necessities for herself and her 13-year-old son who has special needs, according to the Times Herald. Kantz had made a mistake on her initial application for unemployment benefits and couldn't fix that mistake for weeks, until she was able to speak with someone at the agency.
“They were never equipped for this many claims,” Kantz told the newspaper. The unemployment agency received 219,320 claims initially.
Kantz said while she understood the situation that the agency was going through, that still didn't help her. “Filing for unemployment was a somewhat easy experience,” Kantz said. “Getting a hold of someone at unemployment via phone, chat or sending a message was a nightmare.”
Kantz was relieved when her situation finally got straightened out.
The state made some changes concerning how to apply for benefits, including allowing self-employed workers to file for benefits due to the coronavirus pandemic, as well as new online tools to help users report issues that they run into while filing online.
The state's unemployment agency usually received around 5,000 claims per week before the pandemic and is now receiving about 380,000 claims, according to the Times Herald.
Between March 15 and April 11, Michigan had over 1 million claims. St. Clair County alone saw an increase of over 1,000% and Sanilac County saw an increase of 964%, the Times Herald reported.
Alerts Sign-up