AUSTIN – In the week of March 23, 267,000 Texans filed for unemployment benefits, bringing the total making initial claims to more than 430,000 in two weeks.
That is about 4 percent of the Texas workforce, which is enough to bounce the state’s official unemployment rate from a near-record low of 3.5 percent into high single digits.
Nationally, a record 6.65 million people filed first-time jobless claims that week, double the number from the previous week.
Since unemployment systems across the country have been overwhelmed, economists estimate numbers to be higher.
The Texas Workforce Commission is working to hire more staff and improve operations to handle claims.
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Source: Austin American-Statesman