Free Republic

A lack of internal controls brought on by the pandemic led to unemployment checks being sent to prisoners and deceased people, according to an Arkansas Legislative audit report. The Arkansas Division of Workforce Services was forced to relax internal controls that may have spotted some of the fraud as large numbers of people, some who had never filed for unemployment benefits before, flooded the system due to layoffs and shutdowns, according to DWS officials. DWS was also responsible for distributing pandemic unemployment assistance, and sometimes the two systems did not communicate properly, according to the audit. Nearly $273,000 was paid...

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell for a second straight week last week, underscoring the strengthening labor market fundamentals. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slipped 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 298,000 for the week ended Aug. 23, the Labor Department said Thursday. Claims for the prior week were revised to show 1,000 more applications received than previously reported. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims climbing to 300,000 last week. A Labor Department analyst said there were no special factors influencing the state level data. The four-week average of claims, considered a better measure...

The end of unemployment checks for more than a million people on Saturday is driving out-of-work Americans to consider selling cars, moving and taking minimum wage work after already slashing household budgets and pawning personal possessions to make ends meet. Greg and Barbara Chastain of Huntington Beach, Calif., put their two teenagers on the school lunch program and cut back on dining out after losing their T-shirt company in June following a dispute with an investor. They've exhausted their state unemployment benefits and now that the federal extensions are gone, unless they find jobs the couple plan to take their...

Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-Dreamworld, CA), the first woman ever to serve as Speaker of the House made another breakthrough today, with a discovery that has eluded humanity since Adam--how to create jobs Unemployment checks are the fastest way to create jobs.(snip) Or as she carefully phrased it in her press release castigating Republicans after the House passed an extension of unemployment benefits "These benefits help struggling families make ends meet, boost consumer demand to spur hiring by small businesses, and strengthen our economy as a whole." Oh. But Nancy, businesses small and large are the ones taxed to subsidize these...