GA ranks in Top States for Payment Timeliness for Initial UI Claims

According to a US Department of Labor report, Georgia ranks 22nd in the nation in timeliness for all first payments for initial unemployment insurance (UI) claims while ranking first among the top 22 states for number of claims processed. Georgia reports releasing first payments to 75.5% of claimants with initial claims within 21 days outpacing the national average of 66.4%.  This USDOL metric is used to judge timeliness of payments during normal, non-pandemic times. The state’s 4,605,425 initial claims processed since March 2020 accounts for 20% of the total claims of the top 22 states on the list and is greater than the combined totals of the top seven states on the list.  Georgia’s processed claims numbers outpace other states on the list by as much as 4.5 million claims. Minnesota ranks first with a timeliness percentage of 92.9, but has processed only a quarter of the claims that Georgia has handled. Wyoming, third on the list, has processed 77,602 claims during the pandemic, the amount of claims Georgia processes every three weeks.