For Immediate Release
Date: September 17, 2020
Contact: Office of Government, Policy and Public Relations - cdle_pr@state.co.us
State Labor Dept: 5,025 Regular Initial UI Claims Filed For The Week Ending September 12th
(DENVER) -- Today the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) reported that 5,025 regular initial unemployment claims were filed the week ending September 12th. There were also 1,533 Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claims filed for the same week. Since mid-March, a total of 553,618 regular unemployment initial claims have been filed and a grand total of 711,760 claims, including federal PUA benefits.*
For the week ending September 5th, a combined total of 245,078 continued claims were filed, including 156,511 from regular UI, 62,835 from PUA, and 25,732 from Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation.**
The Department also announced it has paid nearly $5 billion in unemployment benefits since March 29th. That amount includes regular unemployment benefits, those filing Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claims, Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), and State Extended Benefits (SEB). Both the PEUC and SEB programs extend unemployment benefits by an additional 13 weeks. Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), the extra $600/week federal benefit payment, will be paid to all claimants eligible through the week ending July 25th (the expiration date set by Congress). Some FPUC payments may be received after the 25th depending on a claimant’s payment request schedule.
Benefits paid since March 29:
Regular UI $1.85 Billion
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance
(gig workers/self-employed) $598.5 Million
Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation
($600/weekly UI benefits to eligible claimants) $2.45 Billion
Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation
(extends unemployment benefits by up to 13 weeks) $50.1 Million
State Extended Benefits
(extends unemployment benefits an additional 13 weeks) $287,553
Total $4.95 Billion
Claims by industry and benefits paid
Benefits paid: Regular UI
Week ending September 12: $58.3 Million
Top 10 industries with highest initial claims for week ending August 29th
#1 Healthcare and Social Assistance: 471 (11.5% of claims for week)
#2 Administrative and Support and
Waste Management and Remediation Services: 456 (11.2%)
#3 Retail Trade: 436 (10.7%)
#4 Construction: 433 (10.6%)
#5 Accommodation and Food Services: 413 (10.1%)
#6 Manufacturing: 379 (9.3%)
#7 Professional and Technical Services: 250 (6.1%)
#8 Education Services: 190 (4.7%)
#9 Transportation and Warehousing: 160(3.9%)
#10 Other Services: 155 (3.8%)
* Initial claims are claims filed to establish benefit eligibility. Initial claims are considered a reliable leading indicator of economic activity. All applications filed are those applications for benefits filed with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment and may not have been through various eligibility determination e.g. wage verification, etc.
**Continued claims are filed to request payment for a given week after eligibility has been established. Weeks claimed provide information as to current labor market conditions.
# # #
COLORADO UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE CHARTS
THROUGH WEEK ENDING SEPTEMBER 12, 2020