Nearly 1.7 million Texans file unemployment claims during the COVID-19 pandemic

  • Data culled from the Texas Workforce Commission
    Data culled from the Texas Workforce Commission

Department of Labor data reveals a further 4.4 million Americans filed for initial unemployment benefits in the week ending April 18, bringing the five-week total to approximately 26.5 million claims. That’s just shy of the population of Texas at nearly 29 million.

The Texas Workforce Commission’s data is more updated and shows that nearly 1.7 million Texas filed for initial unemployment benefits between March 14 and April 24. From April 18 through 24, 365,700 Texans filed – a state record for a week of filings. 

Previous highs came during the Great Recession in 2008, with 49,398 filings in a September week. Another record came September 2017, after Hurricane Harvey hit. The week between August and September, 63,788 people filed.