DOL Launches Jobless Benefits Modernization Office Under Walsh

The U.S. Labor Department is setting up an unemployment insurance modernization unit within the office of Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, part of a broader initiative to give the federal government a beefed-up presence helping states upgrade benefits technology.

The new team will be responsible for overseeing the department’s use of $2 billion awarded by Congress in March to curb jobless aid fraud, promote equitable access to benefits, and improve the pace of payments to laid-off workers, the agency announced Tuesday.

The office will be directed by Yvette Meftah, who worked at the DOL during the Obama administration. The deputy ...