Those trying to navigate the jobless claim process now have step-by-step online tools released this week by the Georgia Department of Labor.

A tutorial can be found at dol.georgia.gov/pua for those seeking Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, such as the self-employed, gig workers, independent contractors, and church and nonprofit organization employees.

And those wishing to file regular individual jobless claims can go to dol.georgia.gov/individual-claims for the tutorial. The page also includes a tutorial video.

“We have created these tutorials with explicit instructions in hopes to provide clarity to the claimant when answering the necessary questions,” Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said.

“Claimants receiving a correct weekly benefit amount is largely reliant upon their request for payment each week and the accurate submittal of certification questions,” he said.

The U.S. Department of Labor “requires us to ask specific questions and sometimes those questions are difficult to understand,” Butler said. “We are working to adjust some of this verbiage based on feedback we have received from applicants to better explain what information the federal government is looking for.”

Nearly $4.6 billion in state and federal benefits have been paid to claimants across the state during the past 11 weeks, according to the labor department.

One bright spot in the record jobless claims that have been filed in Georgia is that even though almost 150,000 initial jobless were filed in the past week, that’s down 16,000 over the previous week.

Also, initial claims have declined four of the past five weeks, officials said.