The state will begin implementing new federal benefit payments of $600 on top of the weekly benefit received by California workers starting this Sunday

Californians have filed more claims in the last four weeks than in all of 2019

SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today announced that starting this Sunday, California workers who are receiving unemployment benefits will begin receiving an extra $600 on top of their weekly amount, as part of the new Pandemic Additional Compensation (PAC) initiated by the CARES Act. This comes as record numbers of unemployment claims are being filed on a weekly basis in the state.

This is an important benefit that will help individual Californians and our small businesses, especially those that are struggling economically as a result of COVID-19

“Many Californians are feeling the effects of this pandemic, and this added benefit is very important to our workers so they have needed resources during this difficult time,” said Governor Newsom.

In the last four weeks, California has processed about 2.3 million unemployment insurance claims, which is more than the total number of claims filed in 2019. Just for the week ending on Saturday, April 4, 2020, the California Employment Development Department (EDD) processed 925,450 claims, which is a 2,418% increase over the same week last year.