April 20, 2020 / Alexandra Sternlicht, Forbes Staff
TOPLINE
As jobless claims surged last week to 22 million nationwide, nearly half of all states have reported double-digit percent losses to the cash reserves they use to pay unemployment claims, according to a new analysis by the Wall Street Journal, raising the possibility that states may need a federal bailout in order to help keep the unemployed afloat.
KEY FACTS
- Nearly 50% of states including California, New York and Massachusetts have drained almost half of their total trust fund reserve in funding unemployment payments for those out-of-work due to the coronaviru pandemic, per WSJ.
- With unemployment rising week over week, states could run out of money and need loans from the federal government, say economists.
- While the federal stimulus package pays for an additional $600 per week for those who are out of work due to the crisis,, states still pay the pre-coronavirus unemployment rate to residents who have filed jobless claims.
- New York had one of the steepest declines in cash reserves and has requested a $4 billion no-interest loan from the federal government in order to pay unemployed residents.
- Only six-percent of Florida residents who filed jobless claims have so far received checks, reports CBS Miami.
- The Wall Street Journal arrived at this conclusion by crunching Treasury Department data.
