California’s unemployment claims backlog growing again, new numbers show
Calls to the state’s unemployment department have ballooned about 38% over the last month – and fewer are being answered, according to data from the agency Thursday.
The backlog of unemployment claims, or claims more than 21 days old, has also jumped. It’s up about 76% over the last month and stood at 195,585 at the end of last week.
The two figures mirror complaints that The Sacramento Bee has been receiving from frustrated constituents..
Debbie Padilla, a former hotel manager who lives in Half Moon Bay, estimated she has made hundreds of calls but can’t get through to the Employment Development Department.
“I’ve read everything to see if I did everything correctly,” she said, and she has. She was collecting unemployment, but since her year was up she needed to re-certify. She has, but her claim is still listed as pending.
She still hasn’t gotten answers as to why her claim has not been processed.
EDD says the recent demand for information has been driven mainly by people affected by the end of their benefit year, as well as the number of federal programs. Washington, D.C. has created several new unemployment benefit programs over the past 14 months, adding to consumer confusion about an already complex system.
Loree Levy, EDD spokeswoman, explained that the agency continues to see questions about pending claims, as the department tries to resolve issues involving many consumers’ eligibility.
EDD has posted a benefit year end webpage, and it’s received more than 5 million views in recent weeks. Its Ask EDDy videos also try to answer questions.
She said the agency has begun offering to call back people who reach the phone queue, rather than have them wait on hold. The department also continues to hire hundreds of new permanent state staff who can process claims and get eligible people paid.
EDD has had to deal with an unprecedented volume of claims since the COVID pandemic began 14 months ago. California’s unemployment rate, 3.9% in February 2020, jumped to 16% two months later. It stood at 8.3% in March 2021.
The COVID crisis ignited an explosion in claims. In the week before the economy began feeling the pandemic’s grip last year, EDD processed 57,606 claims.
By the end of the month that figure was up to 878,727. Since the pandemic began, EDD has paid $142.1 billion in claims.
Newsom and EDD
As complaints about service mounted, Gov. Gavin Newsom vowed in April, 2020 to fix the call center.
“We have to meet the moment. We have to provide more support,” Newsom said at an April 2020 news conference.
The call center last week got 4.8 million calls, up from 3.4 million during the week ending April 10. EDD operates a staffed line from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., as well as a separate 24 hour self-service line. Both lines operate seven days a week, though the staffed line is not open on state holidays.
Many of the callers had to dial the number repeatedly. EDD reported that last week, 382,329 were “unique callers.” Overall, EDD’s staff answered 263,278 calls.
That was down from the 290,135 answered the week ending April 10. That week, EDD got 3.4 million calls from 371,926 callers.
Newsom had vowed to deal with the original backlog quickly last summer, and by January, EDD said it had resolved all of those 1.6 million backlogged claims.The current delays are not close to the numbers that Newsom cited last summer.
Levy noted a big reason for the recent delays is an increase in resolving eligibility issues. For example, she said, EDD can schedule a “determination interview” if an eligibility issue arises depending on how a claimant answers a certification question every two weeks.
She said staff tries to proactively call claimants in certain situations to potentially resolve any issues before scheduling an interview
EDD is now dealing with claims from four major programs. In addition to regular unemployment Insurance provided by states, three federal programs were created since the pandemic began, including the popular Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefit.
That 14-month-old program helps independent contractors, small business owners and others who traditionally do not qualify for unemployment insurance.
The final federal program, renewed by Congress in 2021, provides funding for an extra $300 to be added to each week of benefits a claimant receives.
This story was originally published May 14, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
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