Unemployment Claims Surge as Nearly 600,000 U.S. Jobs Lost in January

According to a recent U.S. Labor Department report, the storm of unemployment has developed into a hurricane as 598,000 people lost jobs in January 2009, the most layoffs in a single month since 1974. About half of the 3.6 million jobs lost since the recession started in December 2007 occurred during the last three months, the report also indicated, leading to a surge in Unemployment Insurance (UI) claims.

Obviously, a rise in unemployment leads to a rise in unemployment claims. According to the Labor Department, there are now 11.6 million unemployed workers in the U.S., and January's figures raised the unemployment rate to 7.6 percent, the highest level since 1992. Less obvious is the growing need for effective "Unemployment Claims Management" for employers overburdened with the rising tide of unemployment claims. And this storm of unemployment – and the deluge of unemployment claims that comes with it – is nowhere near over, as analysts expect layoff figures to soar well above 600,000 per month in the coming period.

To help overwhelmed employers deal with the mounting wave of unemployment claims, Past-Employ.com – a leading provider of unemployment claims management services and member of the Pre-employ.com Family of Companies – recently hosted a complimentary webinar: “5 Secrets to Gaining the Advantage in UI Claims.” The turnout was impressive and many of the attendees raised concerns about how unemployment claims are affecting companies today. They learned that by using our unemployment claims management services, a company with multiple locations nationwide and over 20,000 employees dropped their unemployment insurance tax rate from 3.24% to 2.30%, resulting in a $15 million reduction in UI tax liability and a $5 million contribution to their bottom line a year later.

The webinar “5 Secrets to Gaining the Advantage in UI Claims” is a must-see if you are unsure about unemployment claims and how they affect your UI tax rate and your company’s overall financial condition. To view the archived webinar on unemployment claims management on demand, please visit http://www.past-employ.com/UI/. For more information on Past-Employ.com’s unemployment claims management services, please visit www.Past-Employ.com, email mailto:info@past-employ.com, or call 1-800-300-1821.

*We welcome relevant comments and questions from consumers, experts, and human resources professionals. Please do not submit comments with advertisements as they will not be posted publicly. Thanks for visiting our blog!