Nearly 73,000 Unemployment Claims Filed In Illinois For Week Of May 11, Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

CHICAGO (CBS)– The U.S. Department of Labor estimates 72,816 new unemployment claims were filed during the week of May 11 in Illinois, according to the DOL's weekly claims report released Thursday.

While this number is based on advanced estimates, the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) will be releasing a final number later Thursday.

New claims stayed steady since the week prior, when there were 72,671 new claims filed for the week of May 4.
This is after the state saw notable decreases every week since week 5.

There were 2,438,000 new claims filed across the country during the week of May 4.

In the last 11 weeks, the total has now reached more than 1 million new claims filed in the state in that time period.

During the week of April 20, the U.S. Department of Labor estimates 81,245 new unemployment claims were filed in Illinois.

During the week of April 20, there were 3,169,000 new claims filed across the U.S.

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