Nearly one-third of unemployment benefits owed to Americans haven't been paid yet

(Image credit: OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

last updated 2 June 2020

Over the course of the last three months, the Treasury Department has disbursed $146 billion in unemployment benefits to Americans who have lost their jobs as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, Bloomberg reports.

That's more than in all of 2009, when unemployment peaked following the financial crisis, but it's still reportedly only two-thirds of what's actually owed. The total bill, Bloomberg reports, should have reached $214 billion by now, which means millions of Americans have yet to receive their benefits.

Things aren't going to get easier, either — millions still haven't had their jobless claims processed, and Bloomberg reports that its calculations about what's currently owed are probably understated. A spokesperson for the Labor Department told Bloomberg that "it is also challenging to use these numbers because states are struggling to keep up with demand and some have backlogs they are working through," even as some, like Texas, have expanded call centers and brought in other government workers to help with the claims. Read more at Bloomberg.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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