Alon Ozer Discusses the Overwhelming Amount of Unemployment Claims with NBC News

As states are struggling to process the record 6.6 million jobless claims as the COVID-19 pandemic overtakes the nation, another challenge comes to the surface: unemployment insurance trust funds in nearly half of all states are underfunded. In fact, the Labor Department found that 22 states fell below the necessary threshold, including the five states with the highest weekly jobless claims. For insights on this matter, NBC News spoke with Omnia Family Wealth Chief Investment Officer Alon Ozer.

“The flood of unemployment claims is something no state was planning for. I believe many states will still require federal aid,” Ozer told the publication.

This federal aid that Ozer suggests may be necessary would be in addition to the unemployment insurance support that is already included in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which expands the eligibility and access to payments.

However, the Labor Department claims that states are supposed to build up their reserves during times of economic expansion “in anticipation of paying a higher amount of benefits during recessionary periods.” Ozer explains that while low interest rates and the strong U.S. economy in the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic enabled states to replenish insurance trust funds depleted by the Great Recession, the numbers signal that some states didn’t do enough to ensure solvency even in a more generic downturn.

To read the entire NBC News article, click here.