Florida has topped $18 billion paid out in its unemployment system since the COVID-19 pandemic began causing major economic damage in March.

From March 15 to Sunday, the system had paid $18,003,063,834 to claimants, with much of the money coming from the federal government, according to information posted Monday on the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity website.

In all, the state had received 4,508,856 claims during the period, with 2,078,413 claimants paid