The latest job report caught many, many, many people’s attention because of this sentence: “The quits rate increased to a series high of 2.9%.” That’s from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics summary of its August Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, aka JOLTS. In other words, it was the highest rate since JOLTS began […]
unemployment overpayments
Posted inBusiness, Economy, News, Technology
What’s Working: Need a job? Tech companies are hiring in Colorado as a pre-pandemic labor crunch continues
Long before COVID-19 and the ensuing labor crisis, the Colorado technology industry faced its own tight labor market. Four years ago, when Colorado’s unemployment rate was 2.3%, a local manager at job recruiter Robert Half told me that for some tech jobs the rate was even lower — more like 1%. Nineteen months into COVID, […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, News
What’s Working: 24,000 unemployed Coloradans must pay back pandemic jobless benefits
The COVID-19 pandemic didn’t end on Sept. 4, even though federal unemployment benefits did. Last week, the jobless scene may have seemed quiet to outsiders, but it wasn’t. And this week, it became much worse, as 24,000 folks who’d received pandemic unemployment aid learned they must repay some of the money. But more on that […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, News, Technology
What’s Working: Why there are at least 2,314 new technology jobs in Colorado
The number of Coloradans receiving unemployment benefits continues to decline as, presumably, people return to work. That doesn’t mean unemployment woes have vanished. Gaining steam in my inbox this week were people who said they were notified they had been paid too much and now must return money to the state. (More on overpayments below.) […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, Economy, News
Unemployment fraudsters have cost Colorado at least $19.37 million
The state of Colorado has lost nearly $19.37 million to unemployment fraudsters since last year, officials from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment said Friday. That’s up from the $6.5 million in total fraud losses the department previously reported. The department has documented $437.2 million in fraudulent claims that it has prevented from being […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, News, Politics and Government
Colorado’s unemployment system kept inadequate records on who was overpaid or not paid at all, auditor says
Colorado’s Office of the State Auditor on Tuesday criticized the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment for its lack of proper financial reporting and oversight of billions of dollars in payments to unemployed Coloradans. In an unusual move, the report added a disclaimer to its annual audit of state government finances that honed in on […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, News
What’s Working: Colorado’s unemployment system is … working? Some readers say “yes.”
Getting unemployment pay in Colorado was not problem-free this week. But after two months with no benefits for thousands, this week brought joy as money finally made it to bank accounts — and offered hope to others still waiting. I’m talking about Kevin Saunders, the fellow from Parker who was crushed after reopening his claim […]
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It could be weeks before Coloradans waiting for Phase 2 of federal unemployment see any benefits
As the first federal unemployment payments hit some bank accounts in Colorado this week, a number of unexpected problems emerged, prolonging the wait for thousands who have already been waiting for more than a month. And for everyone else unable to participate in this first round, the re-entry date for Phase 2 still appears several […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, News
Unexpected issues continue to plague Colorado’s unemployment system
After getting back into the system on Monday, Kevin Saunders thought his request for the long-awaited federal unemployment benefits would fill his bank account within days. But no. He woke up Tuesday to find that all five weeks he’d requested for retroactive benefits were denied. “So they denied me for every week,” a disheartened Saunders […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, News, Politics and Government
Here’s how Colorado’s unemployed influenced the new federal coronavirus relief bill
Last-minute changes to the federal relief plan passed late Monday aren’t as rosy as some on unemployment had hoped when the proposal made its way through Congress last week. But the new plan, which picks up where the CARES Act ends on Dec. 26, extends jobless benefits for 11 weeks, instead of 16, and has […]