By Joshua Huff, sports editor
MONTGOMERY – Jefferson County leads the state with the most initial unemployment claims filed between the weeks of April 26 – May 2, 2020, the Alabama Department of Labor said in Thursday’s weekly report.
Jefferson County had 3,985 initial claims filed during this past week, which is out of 29,985 total claims throughout Alabama. Of that nearly 30,000, 19,542 were covid-19 related. Mobile County recorded the second-highest number with 3,353 — Both counties have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
The initial unemployment numbers have dwindled over the weeks following a high of 106,739 claims filed around the week of April 4, 2020. The number of claims spiked on April 25 but have since plummeted.
Alabama Initial Unemployment Claims
- 3/14/2020 – 1,824
- 3/21/2020 – 12,369
- 3/28/2020 – 80,984
- 4/4/2020 – 106,739
- 4/11/2020 – 77,515
- 4/18/2020 – 66,432
- 4/25/2020 – 74,966
- 5/5/2020 – 28,985
Per the department, the “majority of claims filed were from employees in the Industry Not Available (unclassified) section (8,523), followed by Manufacturing (5,228), Accommodation and Food Services (2,944), Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services (2,502), Health Care and Social Assistance (2,358), and Retail Trade (2,294).”
Initial jobless claims refer to individuals who file for unemployment benefits for the first time. It is not to be confused with continued claims, which are filed by individuals seeking additional weeks of unemployment benefits.