For Immediate Release
Date: September 24, 2020
Contact: Office of Government, Policy and Public Relations - cdle_pr@state.co.us
STATE LABOR DEPT: 5,007 REGULAR INITIAL UI CLAIMS FILED FOR THE WEEK ENDING SEPTEMBER 19TH
Note: There is no weekly press call today
(DENVER) -- Today the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) reported that 5,007 regular initial unemployment claims were filed the week ending September 19th. There were also 1,899 Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claims filed for the same week. Since mid-March, a total of 558,625 regular unemployment initial claims have been filed and a grand total of 718,666 claims, including federal PUA benefits.*
For the week ending September 12th, a combined total of 231,674 continued claims were filed, including 150,665 from regular UI, 59,912 from PUA, and 21,097 from Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation.**
The Department also announced for the week ending September 19th it paid $106.1 million in Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) unemployment benefits. LWA is a federally-funded program that provides up to six weeks of additional benefits to all claimants who were eligible for unemployment benefits for the weeks July 26 - September 5th and who were eligible for at least $100/week in unemployment. Regular UI claimants MUST certify to receive these benefits and will not receive LWA payments without required federal certification that their unemployment status was due to Covid-19. Claimants can certify by phone or online at coloradoui.gov.
Benefits paid since March 29:
Regular UI $1.91 Billion
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance
(gig workers/self-employed) $620.9 Million
Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation
($600/weekly UI benefits to eligible claimants) $2.46 Billion
Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation
(extends unemployment benefits by up to 13 weeks) $61.3 Million
State Extended Benefits
(extends unemployment benefits an additional 13 weeks) $395,000
Lost Wages Assistance [through September 19] $106.1 Million
($300/weekly UI benefits to eligible claimants)
Total $5.15 Billion
Claims by industry and benefits paid
Benefits paid: Regular UI
Week ending September 19: $56.5 Million
Top 10 industries with highest initial claims for week ending September 5th
#1 Manufacturing: 595 (13.5% of claims for week)
#2 Administrative and Support and
Waste Management and Remediation Services: 495 (11.2%)
#3 Retail Trade: 444 (10.1%)
#4 Construction: 442 (10.0%)
#5 Healthcare and Social Assistance: 432 (9.8%)
#6 Accommodation and Food Services: 420 (9.5%)
#7 Professional and Technical Services: 287 (6.5%)
#8 Education Services: 182 (4.1%)
#9 Wholesale Trade: 164 (3.7%)
#10 Other Services: 162 (3.7%)
* 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.