La. DOL Says Katrina-Related Benefits 15 Times Above Normal

Hurricane Katrina-related benefits paid by the Louisiana Department of Labor have climbed to 181,071 for the month of September – 15 times more than normally paid in a month, according to department records.

The four-week total of Katrina-related claims for Unemployment Insurance and Disaster Unemployment Assistance nearly matches the 193,119 new claims processed during all of 2004.

The department has paid $75.5 million in Katrina-related unemployment insurance and disaster assistance benefits in September, the department said in a news release. By comparison, the labor department paid out $20 million in such claims during September of 2004.

The dramatic increase in payments is depleting the state’s unemployment trust fund, which is projected to pay out $919 million in benefits to victims from both Katrina and Hurricane Rita over the next year, according to Wayne Knight, fiscal director of the state labor department.

The large decrease in the trust fund, recognized Friday by a state money panel, triggers a change that requires businesses to pay more taxes into the trust fund and drops the maximum weekly benefit in January from $258 per week to $221 per week, Jim Richardson, an LSU economist, told lawmakers.

Knight said he expected the number of unemployment claims to peak at about 300,000 per month because of the two hurricanes.

Of the total paid in claims so far, $61.4 million was for unemployment insurance benefits and $14.1 million for disaster unemployment assistance. The average weekly unemployment payment is $202.

To meet the challenge of getting the benefits to claimants, the labor department has received help from several states, including Texas, California, Montana and Georgia, to help process claims from Louisiana evacuees. The department also has set up a call center, collected claims at job centers throughout the state and has gone into shelters to help evacuees file claims.

Topics Claims Louisiana