Weekly unemployment claims in Colorado surpass 6,000

COLORADO, USA — The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) reported that regular initial unemployment claims in the state surpassed 6,000 last week.

CLDE reported 6,031 regular unemployment insurance (UI) claims and 2,554 Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claims were filed the week ending Oct. 24.

Since mid-March when the coronavirus pandemic was declared, 587,365 UI claims have been filed, and in total 760,187 claims have been filed including federal PUA benefits.

For the week ending Oct. 17, a total of 221,036 continued unemployment claims were filed, including 104,832 from regular UI, 66,445 from PUA, and 49,759 from federal Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) benefits.

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Benefits paid since March 29, according to CDLE: 

• Regular UI: $2.14 billion
• PUA (gig workers/self-employed): $716.7 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): $142.6 million
• State Extended Benefits (extends unemployment benefits an additional 13 weeks): $3 million
• Lost Wages Assistance program ($300 a week in extra UI benefits to eligible claimants from federal government): $376.4 million
• Total: $5.86 billion

Industries with highest initial claims for week ending Oct. 3, according to CDLE: 

1. Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services: 440 (10.9%)
2. Construction: 409 (10.2%)
3. Healthcare and Social Assistance: 405 (10.1%)
4. Accommodation and Food Services: 402 (10% of claims that week)
5. Retail Trade: 386 (9.6%)
6. Manufacturing: 360 (8.9%) 
7. Transportation and Warehousing: 275 (6.8%)
8. Professional and Technical Services: 253 (6.3%)
9. Arts, Entertainment and Recreation: 157 (3.9%)
10. Public Administration: 149 (3.7%)

Colorado county-level initial and continued unemployment claims data released this week for the week ending October 10th is available here.

The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell last week to 751,000, the lowest since March, but it's still historically high and indicates the viral pandemic is still forcing many employers to cut jobs.

Thursday’s report from the Labor Department said the number of people who are continuing to receive unemployment benefits fell more than 700,000 to 7.76 million.  

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