April Unemployment
Busy Thursday here at the Report. I know from talking with many of you that the Florida unemployment website has been a total disaster. According to the Tampa Bay Times, thousands more will be applying soon after Governor DeSantis’ stay-at home order, so these problems could not have come at a worse time.
The website is so broken that the system will return to paper applications. This shocking incompetence will hurt millions of people here in Florida, especially since the paper applications aren’t ready yet.
1.5 million people called the Florida unemployment office last week, many trying to reset their PIN numbers. Last week, 227,000 people in Florida filed for unemployment, and that number is far less than the actual number unemployed due to the problems.
It may be several weeks before these problems are fixed. We encourage you to keep trying to logon, but to do so late at night. These technical difficulties also stop people from getting the $600 weekly check from the U.S. government which also includes the self-employed and independent contractors. Here is the website again: