NC unemployment claims up another 26,000 in a day

With another 27,000 claims or so, the state will surpass the total claims filed in 2019.

The division is adding staff to handle the new volume. It's used to handling roughly 3,200 new filings a week, based on 2019 numbers.

Benefits are calculated based on a person's salary, and the maximum payout is $350 a week. The maximum duration for benefits at the moment is 12 weeks. That changes based on the state's unemployment rate, but the maximum duration is only recalculated based on that rate twice a year.

It's not due to be recalculated until July 1, which is more than 12 weeks away. It would take legislative action to change this, and the General Assembly is expected to go into session in the coming weeks to deal with a variety of COVID-19 issues.

House Speaker Tim Moore said Tuesday that it's too soon to say what changes the General Assembly will approve. A House task force on COVID-19 is expected to hold its first meeting Wednesday.

"We're going to look at every aspect of it," Moore, R-Cleveland, said of a possible benefits extension. "Right now, we just don't know."

The speaker said the fact that people who are self-employed aren't eligible for benefits is "a key problem."

"This is something that the task force is definitely looking at," he said.

The state unemployment system has some $3.8 billion on hand to pay benefits.