More than 230,000 Californians filed for unemployment benefits during the last week of May 30, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Since March 14, the state has processed 4,879,725 claims for unemployment. That represents 28.2% of the total workforce of California that is eligible for the unemployment insurance program.
As of May 23, 2,773,742 total people in California were receiving unemployment benefits. That represents 16% of all eligible employees in the state.
Nationwide, initial unemployment insurance claims declined from last week by about 16.4%, but is still up significantly from last year.
— Michelle Wiley (@MichelleEWiley) and Lisa Pickoff-White (@pickoffwhite)