For the week ending June 20th, there were 125,725 initial unemployment claims in Georgia. This is down 6,272 claims from last week. Initial claims have gone down in seven of the last eight weeks. Jobs were up in all Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) and regions of the state. 

Unemployment benefit payments totaled $146,991,356 over the last week to claimants in the state. Since the start of unemployment benefits due to COVID-19, the GDOL has paid over $1.7 billion in state benefits. 

Following the increased unemployment benefits that the GDOL paid out due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Georgia General Assembly passed a bill Wednesday expanding the length of benefits. Currently, unemployment benefits are available for up to 20 weeks. This new bill proposes that the length of unemployment benefits be determined based on a scale. When the unemployment rate is 4.5% or lower, benefits will last for 14 weeks. Benefits will go for a maximum of 26 weeks when the unemployment rate is above 10%.