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Montana Issues 74,000 Unemployment Checks

The percent change of initial unemployement claims in March, over the year.
Montana Department of Labor and Industry
The percent change of initial unemployement claims in March, over the year.

Montana issued more than 74,000 unemployment payments totalling $62 million last week. That’s almost 45 percent more payments than the week prior.

The 74,000 payments do not represent the number of people receiving claims.

The Montana Department of Labor and Industry says this week’s checks include an additional $600 per week as part of the federal coronavirus relief package that Congress passed last month.

New unemployment claims have skyrocketed since Gov. Steve Bullock ordered many businesses to close almost a month ago in an effort to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Some Montana counties last month saw a nearly thousand-percent increase in initial unemployment claims compared to March of last year.