SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Nov. 5, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — The Utah Department of Workforce Services has reported a decline in new unemployment claims for the third consecutive week after numbers were released for the Oct. 25-31 period.
The number of total new claims filed for unemployment benefits in Utah was 3,866 for the week of Oct. 25 to 31, 2020, with a total of $11,956,086 of benefits paid, the statement says. There were 31,239 continued claims filed during that same week.
The number of people who have not requested a benefit for two consecutive weeks as of Oct. 24, 2020, was 3,134. A total of 3,919 met the same criteria during the previous week.
“We continue to see some positive trends in the claims data, as new claims have gone down for three consecutive weeks while continued claims have decreased for 26 consecutive weeks,” said Kevin Burt, Unemployment Insurance Division director for the Utah Department of Workforce Services.
“We do expect to see a seasonal increase in claims, as well as continued employment disruption with the ongoing pandemic concerns, but certainly not near the levels we saw earlier this year; Utah’s economy continues to recover and prove to be very resilient.”
|
New Unemployment Insurance Claims — October 25-31 |
||||||
|
Traditional Benefits |
% Change |
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance |
% Change |
Extended Benefits |
% Change |
|
|
10/25 to 10/31 |
2,368 |
670 |
828 |
|||
|
Week Prior (10/18 to 10/24) |
2,382 |
-0.6% |
701 |
-4.4% |
910 |
-9% |
|
Continued Unemployment Insurance Claims – October 25-31 |
||||||
|
Traditional Benefits |
% Change |
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance |
% Change |
Extended Benefits |
% Change |
|
|
10/25 to 10/31 |
19,791 |
3,075 |
8,373 |
|||
|
Week Prior (10/18 to 10/24) |
20,991 |
-5.711% |
3,410 |
-9.8% |
8,468 |
-1.1% |
|
New and Continued Claim Comparison Current Week / Previous Week / 2019 Weekly Average |
Total New Claims and Benefits Paid March 15 to October 31, 2020 |
|||||
|
Current Week (10/25 – 10/31) |
Previous Week (10/18 – 10/24) |
2019 Weekly Average |
Traditional (State) |
PUA (Federal) |
Extended (Federal) |
|
|
New Claims |
3,866 |
3,993 |
1,131 |
256,948 |
51,131 |
25,569 |
|
Continued Claims |
31,239 |
32,869 |
8,856 |
$545,816,100 |
$62,582,761 |
$54,483,500 |
|
$600 Stimulus (Expired July 25, 2020) |
$850,787,467 |
|||||
|
Lost Wages Assistance (Expired Sept. 5, 2020) |
$75,190,200 |
|||||
Continued Claims (Weekly)
Anyone whose employment has been impacted by COVID-19 is encouraged to visit jobs.utah.gov/covid19 for updated information, including help for employees and employers returning to work.
With unemployment claims down why does it take longer to qualify for UI than at the beginning of the pandemic? My husband has been waiting 6 weeks and was just told that it will be 4-6 MORE WEEKS!!! Who can go that long without any type of resources? This wait is longer than CA’s UI and they have thousands more new claims. There is no one that will assist in any of this. Shame on Utah.