Better Tech Will Help Curb Jobless-Aid Fraud, DOL Official Says

State unemployment agencies are getting more than $200 million in federal grant funding to improve their jobless-aid safety nets, and that still may not be enough for long-term changes states need, a U.S. Labor Department official said.

Michele Evermore, deputy director for policy at DOL’s new Office of Unemployment Insurance Modernization, said in an exclusive interview that while the equity funding is “revolutionary,” some states are still grappling with fraudsters filing illegitimate claims and application backlogs months after expanded federal pandemic benefits expired.

The bulk of the $2 billion in funding Congress provided to help shore up the unemployment insurance ...