Lincoln – The state’s initial claims for unemployment benefits skyrocketed last week with the rest of the nation’s amid the coronavirus pandemic. The claims rose to nearly 16,000 from a little less than 800 the week before, according to a report released last Thursday.

Nebraska’s number shattered the previous state record of 4,003 in a single week, state Labor Commissioner John Albin said at a news conference. Albin said the hardest-hit workers were generally in the food service, health care, hospitality and retail industries. Food service workers alone counted for about 40% of the new filings.

The state already has waived many of its requirements to collect unemployment benefits, including a mandate that recipients report attempts to get a new job.

Albin said state officials hope to fast-track new claims but first have to get the initial surge in applications. He said the agency has opened a new call center to handle the deluge of requests from laid-off employees and will “move heaven and earth” to help people, but he urged residents to apply online instead of over the phone.

Albin said “all is not dark,” given Nebraska’s relatively strong economy and low unemployment before the outbreak, and predicted that the state would rebound once businesses can operate as normal. Nebraska had a major worker shortage before the outbreak, with about 34,000 open jobs listed on the Nebraska Department of Labor’s website.

“You can argue about whether those are available today, but you’ve got to think that sometime in mid-April, early May, those jobs are going to start coming back,” Albin said.

– Associated Press