California unemployment Archives

EDD Director Rita Saenz Abruptly Resigns, Replaced by Deputy Director

January 29, 2022 2:13 amJanuary 30, 2022 3:27 pm

Employment Development Department (EDD) Director Rita Saenz abruptly announced her retirement in a staff email on Friday, with Governor Gavin Newsom to appoint EDD chief deputy director of external affairs Nancy Farias to the post early next year. Saenz had...

California Unemployment Rate Still Ranks Highest in U.S.

September 20, 2021 7:37 amSeptember 20, 2021 7:37 am

Last month, California ranked in 3-way tie for second worst of the 50 states in highest unemployment ranking in the United States, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This month California ranks at 50th for highest unemployment in...

EDD Announces Only People Actively Seeking Work Will Receive Unemployment Benefits

June 18, 2021 4:21 pmJune 24, 2021 6:15 am

The Employment Development Department (EDD) announced on Thursday that unemployment benefits will no longer be given to people not actively applying for jobs. California has had the looking-for-work requirement suspended for the last 15 months, ever since the COVID-19 pandemic...

EDD Unemployment Backlog Falls Below 1 Million

November 6, 2020 6:24 amNovember 9, 2020 11:24 am

On Thursday, the Employment Development Department (EDD) announced that the backlog of unemployment cases has fallen under 1 million for the first time since March. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and adjoining economic downturn earlier this year, the...

The Fallout of EDD Director Sharon Hilliard’s Resignation

November 2, 2020 8:20 pm

Over the weekend, Employment Development Department Director Sharon Hilliard resigned, opening up the likelihood of more extreme changes at the EDD next year. The EDD has been through a tumultuous year and has put the usually low-key organization in the...

EDD Begins To Reduce Backlogged Unemployment Claims Following System Updates

October 8, 2020 3:44 pmOctober 9, 2020 6:50 am

On Wednesday, the Employment Development Department (EDD) announced that 246,000 of the 1.6 million backlogged unemployment claims have been paid and mailed following a two-week hiatus of claims. However, the backlog will still take well into January 2021 to address....

EDD Fraud Case Grows, 87 Arrested Over Fraudulent Unemployment Benefits

September 25, 2020 8:32 amSeptember 25, 2020 4:34 pm

On Wednesday, Beverly Hills Police Announced that the number of people arrested over Employment Development Department (EDD) fraud had grown to 87, nearly doubling the number of cases in less than a week. 181 fraudulent EDD cards worth $3.6 million...