HAGATNA,07 OCTOBER 2020 (THE GUAM DAILY POST) — Guam’s unemployment claims as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic reached 80,436 as of Monday, after a surge caused by the second lockdown starting on 21 August, according to the Guam Department of Labor.
While some 20,000 of the total number of claims were flagged as fraudulent, that still leaves some 60,000 new and renewal claims from Guam residents, Labor officials said.
The renewals include those who initially filed a Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program claim in June and then went back to work, only to lose their job or get furloughed again in August.
“The Department of Labor is working continuously to adjudicate claims and batch payments while also trying to help people get back on their feet with programmes such as the National Dislocated Worker Grant,” GDOL special projects coordinator Hannah Cho said.
Late last week, Labor released the latest payouts of some US$15.6 million.
As of Monday, 1,668 employers reported via hireguam.com that 30,539 of their employees got laid off, were furloughed or had their work hours cut as a direct result of COVID-19.
There’s also still no update on when Guam Labor will be able to pay out the extra US$300 or US$400 in weekly unemployment aid, Cho said. This is the US$300 from Federal Emergency Management Agency funding with US$100 from the local government…. PACNEWS