Montana pays $55 million in unemployment in single week

“Town Crier” newsletter – Briefs from the Region (1) – 5/19/20

According to Montana Public Radio, despite a slowly decreasing rate of new COVID-19-related unemployment insurance claims in Montana following a peak in claims at the end of April, Montana doled out some $55 million in unemployment last week. That’s a lot of oro y plata. “The total includes regular unemployment payments, expanded pandemic assistance and the $600 weekly addition from the federal CARES Act,” the article reports, along with that the decrease is associated with the gradual reopening of a number of Montana businesses and industries.