Covid 19: Unemployment questions and answers

  SYNOPSIS: In the weekly jobless report on April 2nd, Texas unemployment claims jumped by more than 275,000. Last week, the number of Texans who filed for unemployment benefits was 150,000. As extraordinary as those numbers are, they only reflect part of the staggering number of jobs in the state that have been lost in recent weeks as the economy grinds to a halt during the Covid-19 pandemic. Not included in the numbers are all those who have been without jobs for weeks, but who have been unable to file for unemployment compensation because the Texas Workforce Commission website, inundated with requests, has been freezing and crashing. Worse yet, many Texans have complained the website directs them to call the TWC, and phone lines there have been jammed for weeks. We talk to one woman who has been trying to get benefits for herself and her son, since bother of them have lost work. She explains her frustrations navigating the system…and she poses a few questions for the TWC. We ask those questions and many more when we get a spokesman for the agency on the line. He explains how they are trying to ramp up to an overwhelming demand that isn’t expected to abate any time soon.   WEBSITE LINKS: Texas Workforce Commission