For Immediate Release
Date: August 6, 2020
Contact: Office of Government, Policy and Public Relations - cdle_pr@state.co.us
(DENVER) -- Today the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) reported that 7,138 regular initial unemployment claims were filed the week ending August 1st. There were also 7,585 Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claims filed for the same week. Since mid-March, a total of 517,203 regular unemployment initial claims have been filed and a grand total of 679,255 claims, including federal PUA benefits.*
For the week ending July 25th, a combined total of 310,912 continued claims were filed, including 223,097 from regular UI, 74,905 from PUA, and 12,910 from Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation.**
The Department also announced it has paid out nearly $4.3 billion in unemployment benefits since March 29th. That amount includes regular unemployment benefits, those filing Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claims, and beginning in early July, Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), which extends 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.
While regular unemployment benefits will continue unaffected, there will be a gap in payment of any additional benefits until Congress acts to extend the FPUC program, or passes a new program. Claimants will be back paid for any weeks that are owed, depending on the effective date determined by Congress.
Benefits paid since March 29:
Regular UI: $1.46 Billion
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance
(gig workers/self-employed): $490.0 Million
Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation
($600/weekly UI benefits to eligible claimants): $2.33 Billion
Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation
(extends unemployment benefits by up to 13 weeks): $8.8 Million
Total: $4.28 Billion
Claims by industry and benefits paid
Benefits paid: Regular UI
Week ending August 1: $85.0 Million
Top 10 industries with highest initial claims for week ending July 18th
#1 Accommodation and Food Services: 765 (12.1% of claims for week)
#2 Administrative and Support and
Waste Management and Remediation Services: 684 (10.8%)
#3 Healthcare and Social Assistance: 653 (10.3%)
#4 Retail Trade: 615 (9.7%)
#5 Manufacturing: 590 (9.3%)
#6 Construction: 478 (7.6%)
#7 Professional and Technical Services: 440 (7.0%)
#8 Education Services: 295 (4.7%)
#9 Other Services: 291 (4.6%)
#10 Transportation and Warehousing: 273 (4.3%)
Colorado county-level initial and continued unemployment claims data released this week for the week ending July 18th is available here.
* 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.
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