The Office of the State Auditor completed a follow-up performance audit to determine the timeliness of first unemployment benefit payments from the North Carolina Department of Commerce, Division of Employment Security (DES) during the period of July 1, 2024, through November 30, 2025.

The audit found that DES did not issue 28% of first unemployment benefit payments timely during the audit period, resulting in late payments totaling approximately $12.2 million. Specifically, 31,366 of 111,413 first unemployment benefit payments were not made within the federally required 14-day standard. As a result, many North Carolinians waited weeks, and in some cases, months, to receive payments during a period of job loss.

North Carolina has not met the federal standard for timely first unemployment benefit payments since 2011.

DES agreed with the findings and recommendations. DES’s formal response is included in the report.

Division/Office
All/Any Audit Types
Audit Reports
Performance
Has Findings
High Profile
Document Entity Terms
General Government
First Published