Kaely Monahan/KJZZ

Ryan Randazzo in KJZZ's studio in 2018.

Months into the pandemic, the Arizona Department of Economic Security is still struggling to keep up with new applications for unemployment benefits.

Tens of thousands of Arizonans are still waiting for payments, and the department has repeatedly pointed to fraud as a root cause of delays.

The department adjusted its application process to prevent fraud, and soon after, credited the changes for a steep drop in overall unemployment claims at the end of July.

During the week of July 19, more than 266,000 new Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claims were filed; that number plummeted to about 52,000 the following week. At the same time, continued claims dropped from about 2.5 million to about 442,000.

Is it really as simple as the fraud-detection process at work? The Show spoke with Ryan Randazzo from the Arizona Republic for more on the process.

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