DENVER — The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) reported more than 14,000 initial regular unemployment claims were filed for the most recent week.
>The video above from Wednesday: Colorado to roll out the second phase of new federal unemployment benefits.
Regular unemployment claims
CDLE estimates 14,018 initial regular Unemployment Insurance (UI) claims were filed the week ending Feb. 6 after adjusting for fraud, and $25.2 million in UI benefits were paid out.
For the week ending Jan. 30, CDLE reports 72,507 total continued UI claims were filed.
Since mid-March of 2020, CDLE said an estimated 805,854 regular UI claims have been filed.
Unemployment claims for federal benefits
CDLE also reported 30,295 initial Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claims were filed following the Phase One rollout.
CDLE said Phase One resumed federal PUA and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) benefits for anyone who was still eligible when the federal CARES Act expired on Dec. 26.
Currently, CDLE reports 111,366 backdated PUA claims and 167,018 backdated PEUC claims from Dec. 27 to Jan. 30 have been processed. It estimates the continued claims were filed by 35,758 individuals for PUA, and 39,657 individuals for PEUC.
CDLE said that it will begin rolling out benefits to Phase Two claimants the week of Feb. 22, and emails will be sent out to those claimants when they can apply.
Phase Two includes claimants who exhausted federal benefits before Dec. 26, and claimants who had federal benefits remaining on Dec. 26 but have since exhausted them.
Benefits paid since March 29
- Regular UI: $2.65 Billion
- PUA (gig workers/self-employed): $1.09 Billion
- Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (Extra $300 in weekly UI benefits to eligible claimants): $2.65 Billion
- PEUC (extends unemployment benefits by up to 11 additional weeks): $401.9 Million
- State Extended Benefits (extends unemployment benefits an additional 13 weeks): $29.9 Million
- Lost Wages Assistance ($300 in weekly UI benefits to eligible claimants in fall 2020): $389.2 Million
- Total: $7.21 Billion
(Note: The benefits provided of some federal programs changed when when the CARES Act expired and the Continued Assistance Act was passed.)
The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell slightly last week to 793,000, evidence that job cuts remain high despite a substantial decline in new viral infections.
Last week’s total declined from 812,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said Thursday. That figure was revised higher from the previously-reported figure of 779,000. Before the virus erupted in the United States in March, weekly applications for jobless aid had never topped 700,000, even during the Great Recession.
The job market's improvement slowed through the fall and in the past two months has essentially stalled. Over the past two months combined, employers have cut 178,000 jobs. Nearly 10 million jobs remain lost to the pandemic.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Local stories from 9NEWS