TRENTON - More than 1 million New Jersey residents have filed for jobless benefits and the state has paid out about $2 billion since the coronavirus outbreak hit in March, state labor officials announced Thursday.
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The state Labor and Workforce Development Department said the number of claims is “by far the most ever recorded” over a similar time frame. The week ending May 2 saw 88,000 new claims, up from 72,000 the week before.
Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo said in a statement that the 1 million claim milestone was “staggering” and that they never thought they’d reach such a figure in so short a time.
New Jersey is among the worst-hit states by COVID-19. There are more than 131,000 cases and about 8,500 deaths.
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