The dashboard includes multiple charts displaying the EDD's progress in issuing unemployment payments since the COVID-19 pandemic began last year.
More than 1 million unemployment claims were filed last March, according to the EDD. Several hundred thousand more were filed each subsequent month as the pandemic dragged on. Altogether, in just over a year, nearly 21.3 million claims have been filed across the state. That surge in unemployment claims overwhelmed the EDD creating a backlog of roughly 600,000 unfulfilled claims according to a September report.
According to the EDD's new dashboard, the backlog still includes roughly 150,000 claims that have not been fulfilled in three weeks or more. The good news is that backlog is down by roughly 100,000 since mid-February. Since January, the EDD has paid out roughly $19.5 billion in unemployment benefits. The agency has also dispersed benefits to some 9.7 million claims per week since last month.
Information about filing for unemployment or other forms of insurance can be found at edd.ca.gov.
