COLORADO, USA — The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) reported more than 7,400 weekly regular unemployment claims for the most recent week.
CLDE reported 7,483 regular unemployment insurance (UI) claims and 7,281 Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claims were filed the week ending Nov. 7.
Due to a large increase in PUA claims in recent weeks, CDLE said it is conducting a review to determine which issues may be contributing, including a deep-dive fraud analysis.
Since mid-March when the coronavirus pandemic was declared, 601,964 UI claims have been filed, and in total 785,692 claims have been filed including federal PUA benefits.
For the week ending Oct. 31, a total of 213,703 continued unemployment claims were filed, including 91,444 from regular UI, 64,903 from PUA, and 57,356 from federal Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) benefits.
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Benefits paid since March 29, according to CDLE:
- Regular UI: $2.21 billion
- PUA (gig workers/self-employed): $763.8 million
- Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation
($600 a week in extra UI benefits to eligible claimants): $2.49 billion - PEUC (extends unemployment benefits by up to 13 weeks): $181.2 million
- State Extended Benefits (extends unemployment benefits an additional 13 weeks): $7.7 million
- Lost Wages Assistance program ($300 a week in extra UI benefits to eligible claimants from the federal government): $378.5 million
- Total: $6.03 billion
Industries with highest initial claims for the week ending Oct. 3, according to CDLE:
- Accommodation and Food Services: 658 (14.9% of claims that week)
- Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services: 511 (11.6%)
- Construction: 504 (11.4%)
- Healthcare and Social Assistance: 422 (9.6%)
- Retail Trade: 390 (8.8%)
- Manufacturing: 284 (6.4%)
- Professional and Technical Services: 258 (5.8%)
- Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation: 218 (4.9%)
- Wholesale Trade: 185 (4.2%)
- Transportation and Warehousing: 159 (3.6%)
The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits fell last week to 709,000, a still-high level but the lowest figure since March and a sign that the job market might be slowly healing.
The figures coincide with a sharp resurgence in confirmed viral infections to an all-time high above 120,000 a day. Cases are rising in 49 states, and deaths are increasing in 39. The nation has now recorded 240,000 virus-related deaths and 10.3 million confirmed infections.
Last week’s new applications for unemployment benefits were down from 757,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said Thursday. The still-elevated figure shows that eight months after the pandemic flattened the economy, many employers are still slashing jobs.
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