(LEX 18) — Sharon Slone and Michelle Noel are two of the many Kentuckians still awaiting their first unemployment checks.
"I've given up," said Slone who is a 75-year-old gas station clerk that has been out of work since Thanksgiving.
Slone says she first filed for unemployment benefits in the spring but never received anything. She went back to work part-time from June to Thanksgiving before Slone says she lost her job again. She didn't bother applying for unemployment again.
"If I can't get it in eight or nine months, I am certainly not going to get the second amount," said Slone.
Noel, a self-employed cleaning lady, says she has waited since April for her benefits. In September, she received a letter from the state saying she'd get $176 weekly totaling just under $7,000, but recently was notified her benefits will be less than $2,000.
"We're living on one income, my husband's job and raising four grandkids, get no child support," said Noel who told LEX 18 the family has been forced to move to another home so they can pay their bills.
On Thursday, Gov. Andy Beshear's office released unemployment statistics since the beginning of the pandemic
- Total Claims: 1,539,784
- Total Claims Paid/Payable: 547,836
- Total Claims Denied: 27,552
- Total Pending with Fraud/Identity Issues: 90,144
- Total Pending with No Fraud/Identity Issues: 23,236
- Total Amount Paid: $5,450,709,280
