More than 140,000 Texans filed for unemployment last week

Last week, 141,672 Texans filed for unemployment, bringing the total number of claims to 1.9 million in the past two months.

This comes as state and local orders aiming to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic have shuttered stores and led to massive layoffs and furloughs. And likely thousands more are still struggling to apply, running into website crashes and busy phone lines. Nationwide, just shy of 3 million Americans filed for unemployment last week.

Last week’s claims are down more than 40% from the week ending May 2, when more than 240,000 Texans filed for unemployment.

The Texas Workforce Commission has paid out over $5.2 billion in benefits, using state and federal funding, Cisco Gamez, a spokesperson for the commission, said at a Wednesday media briefing. — Clare Proctor