New unemployment claims at lowest since mid-March

The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development received 12,192 new unemployment claims last week, the lowest number reported since the start of the pandemic.

The new figures represent a 6% decline from the 12,986 — then the lowest number since March — claims filed the week before.

“We are thankful to see fewer New Jerseyans having filed new unemployment claims in the past several weeks and more residents having received FEMA payments. However, too many of our neighbors, family and friends continue to struggle financially because of layoffs or cuts in work hours,” Labor Commissioner Rob Asaro-Angelo said. “Labor Department are working hard every day to get vital wage-replacement benefits to these claimants.”

The new figures bring the total number of unemployment claims since mid-March to a little more than 1.8 million claims. Most, 96%, of the roughly 1.47 million applicants eligible for benefits have received payments.

Another 848,000 have received payments under a FEMA’s Lost Wages Assistance program, with 31,000 receiving about $33 million in the last week.