US Department of Labor reports another 6.6 million unemployed workers, over 200000 in Illinois

The US Department of Labor issued a new weekly jobless on Thursday. According to the report, another 6.6 million people filed for unemployment last week at the national level. More than 200000 workers filed for unemployment last week in Illinois, according to the report.

According to the Labor Department, almost 17 million workers filed for unemployment in the US in the last three weeks. The unemployment is highly driven by the shutdown of the businesses due to the coronavirus pandemic. The department said that 3.3 million people filed for unemployment in the week before that.

The Labor Department reported that 200940 people filed for unemployment last week in Illinois. The department added that 178421 people filed for the unemployment the week before and 114114 the week before that. The retail trade, food services, and accommodation sectors are heavily damaged in Illinois due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the department.

The Illinois Department of Unemployment Security found it tough to keep pace with the people filing for unemployment. JB Pritzker, the governor of Illinois, issued some guidelines in this regard to keep the system running smoothly. He advised the unemployed workers to follow the alphabetized time slots to file their claims. He also advised them to file their claims in off-hours.

The previous record of unemployment claims in a single week was made in 1982 when 695000 people filed for unemployment during the Reagan recession. This record has already broken three weeks ago, according to the department. The federal government has announced several packages for the businesses to cover their losses. The Illinois Economic Policy Institute released a new study in which it revealed that Illinois should make better use of a week-share program. Health insurance is important for the employees and it must be provided to them by cutting their working hours, according to the study.