LIVE STREAM: Governor and DLIR Answer Questions on Unemployment Claims, 3 p.m.

https://www.facebook.com/GovernorDavidIge/videos/228156254941041

Governor David Ige and Department of Labor and Industrial Relations Director Scott Murakami will host a live stream on Facebook to answer media questions about unemployment.

Earlier today, Gov. Ige and Murakami held a Community Connection conversation to discuss the latest updates on unemployment filings, new tools to help with unemployment claims, pandemic unemployment insurance, and more. That stream is available for viewing below.

“We went from having one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country to the highest unemployment rate in a very short period of time.  Clearly, our system, which is old and antiquated, was overwhelmed,” said Gov. Ige.

Prior to the pandemic, Hawaiʻi was processing in late February about 700 claims per week.  “And so you can imagine what happens when you end up with about a quarter of a million–somewhere around a quarter million claims,” said Murakami.  In a single day, Murakami said the department received about 25,000 filings.

As of Friday, April 17, unemployment in Maui County was 29,000 unemployed, while the statewide unemployment had reached 243,000.

Murakami said the department has been able to streamline the process and have ramped up manpower, resulting in claims being paid out at a much higher level than when this began.  Last week, Murakami said the department paid out a total of $31 million in claims.  In the last two days, Murakami said the department paid about $21 million.

https://www.facebook.com/GovernorDavidIge/videos/899869357151875

DLIR website: https://labor.hawaii.gov/
To file a new claim: https://huiclaims2020.hawaii.gov/initial-claim
To check status: https://huiclaims2020.hawaii.gov/status
Language assistance: [email protected]

*Video courtesy Office of Gov. David Ige / Facebook.