Over 29,000 Unemployment Claims Filed In Illinois For Week Of Sept. 21, Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

CHICAGO (CBS)-- The Illinois Department of Employment Security reported 29,390 new unemployment claims were filed across the state last week, the week of Sept. 21.

That's a 13% increase from the 25,976 claims filed in Illinois one week earlier, the week of Sept. 14, but more than four times the 6,793 claims filed in the same timeframe of 2019.

There were 837,000 new claims filed across the country last week.

Unemployment claims across the nation have skyrocketed during the pandemic. In Illinois, more than 1.72 million new unemployment claims have been filed since early March.

IDES reported 27,384 new unemployment claims across the state during the week of Sept. 7.

There were 25,478 new unemployment claims were filed across the state the week of Aug. 31.

The state reported 26,194 new unemployment claims were filed during the week of Aug. 24.

IDES has faced ongoing struggles filling claims during the pandemic. CBS 2 spoke with four IDES employees in May. For the first time, these workers offered a glimpse into the challenges IDES employees face daily working to get thousands of new unemployment claims processed, as well as the factors they believe contribute to why so many people have not received their benefits.

CBS 2 has extensively reported about how unemployment has surged in Illinois and neighboring states during the coronavirus pandemic.