California: Criminal rings loot billions in jobless funds

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sophisticated hackers, identity thieves and overseas criminal rings stole over $11 billion in unemployment benefits from California last year, but the extent of the fraud might grow far larger: billions more in payments are under investigation. California Labor Secretary Julie Su told...

California paid $11 billion in bogus jobless claims last year, investigating possible fraud involving $20 billion more

LOS ANGELES (AP) — California paid $11 billion in bogus jobless claims last year, investigating possible fraud involving $20 billion more.

Nevada reports 1,194 new COVID-19 cases and 15 more deaths

CARSON CITY Nev. (AP) — Health officials in Nevada on Sunday reported 1,194 new COVID-19 cases and 15 more deaths. The latest figures increased state’s pandemic totals to 270,907 cases and 4,026 known deaths. Clark County had 907 of the new cases and five of the 15 deaths, according to statistics...

Nevada pandemic death tops 4,000; 1,501 more cases reported

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nevada's pandemic death toll exceeded 4,000 on Saturday as the state reported over 1,500 additional known COVID-19 cases. The Department of Health and Human Services 1,501 additional cases and 53 additional deaths, increasing the state's totals to 269,713 cases and 4,011 deaths. COVID-19...

Official: Nevada's virus vaccine allotment is 'low, slow'

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nevada has administered more than 137,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine. But state coronavirus task force chief Caleb Cage said Friday that Nevada’s vaccine allocation from the federal government has been “low, slow and weekly” and “is not enough to meet our needs...

Alaska job numbers down in December amid ongoing pandemic

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska had 24,100 fewer jobs in December than a year earlier amid ongoing economic repercussions from the COVID-19 pandemic, the state labor department reported Friday. Karinne Wiebold, a department economist, said there aren't many bright spots to glean from the December jobs report....

California sees suspicious surge in unemployment claims

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California is reporting a surge in coronavirus unemployment claims last week for independent contractors, gig workers and the self-employed — the category of benefits blamed for much of the state's fraudulent payments. The state last week received more than 110,800 Pandemic...

Couple indicted for pandemic unemployment benefits fraud

BOSTON (AP) — A woman who worked for the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance and her husband are facing charges they sought to illegally collect unemployment benefits for workers impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Tiffany Pacheco, 35, and Arthur Pacheco, 47, were indicted Thursday in...

Ohio to spend $50 million on 2M home coronavirus tests

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio will use $50 million in federal pandemic aid dollars to buy 2 million at-home rapid coronavirus tests to help local health departments respond faster to testing needs, Gov. Mike DeWine announced Thursday. The governor also said the state's 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. pandemic curfew, due...

US jobless claims decline to a still-high 900,000

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell slightly last week to 900,000, still a historically high level that points to ongoing job cuts in a raging pandemic. The Labor Department's report Thursday underscored that President Joe Biden has inherited an economy that...