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By ERIC AYRES
Staff Writer
The COVID-19 pandemic's tendrils almost instantly wrapped themselves around the United States economy and its employment figures in 2020.
Businesses deemed non-essential temporarily closed down. Many workers dealt with reduced hours or found themselves completely out of work.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics, unemployment climbed as high as 14.7 percent in April. The unemployment rate fell to 6.3 percent in January, but was still almost double the 3.5 percent the country saw in February.
Many who had never worried about joblessness before suddenly found themselves navigating their state's unemployment systems, which had to evolve themselves due to the restrictions caused by the pandemic. Yet those systems have evolved to continue providing services as effectively as they can to job seekers throughout Ohio and West Virginia.
As restrictions on public gatherings slowly began to loosen after the spring shutdowns, the federal government offered assistance in the form of stimulus packages such as those in the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) Act that -- among many other relief programs -- made direct stimulus payments to tax filers and their dependents. Federal unemployment programs such as the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUS) and others to assist those whose jobs were affected by the pandemic.
In Ohio and West Virginia, the state unemployment offices were forced to adapt to the overwhelming hike in cases being filed.
"Like every other state in the nation, the biggest challenge to Ohio's unemployment system over the last year has been the dramatic increase in unemployment claims since the start of the pandemic," Thomas Betti, spokesman for the office of communication at the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. "The total number of initial jobless claims filed in Ohio over the last 45 weeks -- 2,228,112 -- was more than the combined total of those filed during the last five years."
The challenge on the state level was finding ways to quickly implement these federal programs and handle the huge volumes of new unemployment claims, many of which were not required to follow the same rules and guidelines as those filing for traditional state unemployment benefits.
"Each claim is important to us," Betti said. "We know many Ohioans are struggling, and we understand the urgency of providing them with the resources they need to support themselves and their families."
In the state systems, increased staffing and greatly enhanced capabilities to efficiently handle online processing of claims was a must.
"As a result, we continue to build our capacity to process this unprecedented number of claims and assist all the Ohioans who need help," Betti said. "We contracted with a vendor, Deloitte, to stand up the new Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program. We also implemented a number of other measures, such as expanding our call center hours to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays, and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sundays."
A number of different federal stimulus packages have been passed in Washington since the onset of the pandemic, with different avenues of unemployment assistance outlined in each. Initially an addition of $600 in federal assistance per week was given to those who remained unemployed because of the pandemic between April and July. Another federal $300 was provided for additional weeks in the fall, and an extension of 11 more weeks was provided in the stimulus package passed at the end of December.
With the changing of the guard in Washington in January, shifting political winds continued to keep state agencies on their toes when it comes to quickly implementing or tweaking programs and opening avenues to get federal assistance to those in need.
Shortly after taking office in late January, President Joe Biden publicly announced a different stance on the newly expanded federal unemployment benefits made available as part of the latest stimulus package passed at the end of the year. Biden indicated his support of the new requirement to seek employment, but noted that applicants should not be mandated to take a job offered to them if they found conditions to be unsafe.
Biden issued an executive order on his second day in office asking the Labor Department to clarify this policy.
"You could be denied unemployment insurance because you're offered a job and you didn't take it," Biden said. "It's wrong. No one should have to choose between their livelihoods and their own health or the health of their loved ones in the middle of a deadly pandemic."
This year, WorkForce West Virginia mailed 1099-G forms to nearly 200,000 individuals who received unemployment benefits in 2020.
With so much additional money being offered through federal relief packages with fewer strict guidelines encouraging filers to get back into the job market, state agencies have also been eyeing an increase in cases of unemployment fraud. WorkForce West Virginia has urged legitimate filers to be on guard against fraud and identity theft, especially during this tax season.
"It's unfortunate, but unemployment fraud has been prevalent across the country during the pandemic and fraudsters are out there claiming benefits by using stolen identities," said WorkForce West Virginia Acting Commissioner Scott A. Adkins. "WorkForce is exhausting every possible avenue to reduce the impact of fraud on innocent West Virginians."
WorkForce West Virginia has hired additional staff for fraud prevention and detection, including income and identity verification.
While lawmakers in Washington continued to debate details about the amount and the guidelines pertaining to yet another new stimulus package to provide relief to American families who are still feeling the economic impact of the pandemic, many state officials are encouraging the White House and congressional leaders to "go big or go home" when it comes to the next round of assistance.
"We need to understand that trying to be, per se, fiscally responsible at this point in time with what we've got going on in this country, if we throw away some money right now, so what?" Justice said. "We've simply got to move to get people taken care of."
As the nation continues to take steps toward recovery and coronavirus vaccines continue to roll out, state agencies remain available to provide assistance through job placement and employment programs.
The national unemployment rate has fallen significantly since the height of the pandemic, but as of the start of February, numbers still remain above pre-pandemic levels.
However, jobs are available, and local employment offices -- such as the Ohio Means Jobs office in Martins Ferry and the WorkForce West Virginia office in Warwood -- are staffed and ready to help
In Ohio, for unemployment information or for links to available employment opportunities, visit jfs.ohio.gov. For more information about job opportunities or unemployment benefits in West Virginia, including federal pandemic relief programs provided by the CARES Act, visit workforcewv.org.