Hundreds Line Up to Get Unemployment Applications in Floridia (+Video)
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Hundreds of people lined up in South Florida on Tuesday to get paper applications for unemployment benefits as the state has been hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
Dozens of people were seen waiting for help in Hialeah, north of Miami, early Tuesday.
Some people wore face coverings, but others did not. Some stood 6-feet apart from one another, but others were close together, Wesh2 reported.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday that the state's unemployment website is now up to speed, but users say the site is still not working as it should.
DeSantis said Monday that the state’s heavily criticized unemployment system should now be able to handle the crush of applicants it is receiving as workers lose their jobs because of the coronavirus outbreak.
More than 520,000 Floridians have applied for unemployment since March 15, compared to 326,000 in all of last year.
State statistics show that more than 13,300 people have been diagnosed with the disease and 236 have died since the outbreak began.
Because of all the issues with the state's unemployment website, the agency is accepting paper applications.
The St Louis Fed predicts potential job losses of over 46m for 2020. This would translate to a 32.1% unemployment rate, which would be the highest ever. Currently, the peak stands at 24.9%, which occurred in 1933 during the Great Depression.
An alternate official estimate by the CBO is far more conservative; it estimates unemployment will exceed 10% in Q2.
The COVID-19 shock could result in the pool of unemployed rising by 25m. This would result in the unemployment rate rising to just under 20% in Q2.
