For Immediate Release
Date: April 22, 2021
Contact: Office of Government, Policy and Public Relations - cdle_pr@state.co.us
State Labor Dept. Update for the Week Ending April 17th: UI Claims and Reemployment Support
(DENVER) -- Today the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) reported that an estimated 6,718 regular initial unemployment claims were filed the week ending April 17th. There were also 1,310 Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) initial claims filed for the same week. Since mid-March 2020, an estimated total of 916,379 regular initial unemployment claims have been filed and a grand total of 1,183,542 claims, when the PUA program is included.*
For the week ending April 10th, the number of continued weeks requested totaled 209,232. That includes the following totals by UI program: regular UI (63,260), PUA (61,752), and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) (84,220). As mentioned in last week’s press release, the recent implementation of the ID.me identity verification requirement explains the relative decline in continued weeks, compared to the weeks and months prior. CDLE estimates those continued claims were filed by approximately 170,728 individuals (57,492 for regular UI; 45,189 for PUA, and 68,047 for PEUC).** Weekly initial and continued claims figures can be viewed in the attached PDF at the end of this press release.
Additional data
Benefits paid March 29, 2020 - April 17, 2021:
Weekly amounts for non regular UI programs can be viewed in the attached PDF at the end of this press release. The recent implementation of the ID.me identity verification requirement explains the decline in benefit payment amounts for regular UI, PUA, and FPUC, starting the week ending April 10th.
Regular UI: $2.89 Billion
Week ending April 17: $9.4 Million
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance
(gig workers/self-employed): $1.32 Billion
Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation
($600/weekly UI benefits to eligible claimants, CARES Act;
$300/weekly UI benefits to eligible claimants, CAA): $3.45 Billion
Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation
(extends unemployment benefits by up to 13 weeks, CARES Act;
extends additional 11 weeks, CAA): $800.5 Million
State Extended Benefits
(extends unemployment benefits an additional 13 weeks): $32.1 Million
Lost Wages Assistance
($300/weekly UI benefits to eligible claimants, fall 2020): $389.2 Million
Total: $8.87 Billion
Helping Coloradans with Reemployment Support
CDLE and its partners hold regular, no-cost training that can help unemployed Coloradans get rehired. A sampling of events is below and a complete list of events, workshops and training opportunities is available on the CDLE website. There are also grants available for workers to help aid in Colorado’s economic recovery:
- COResponds is designed to help workers who are temporarily or permanently laid off due to the pandemic, including dislocated workers and long-term unemployed workers. The grant also serves people who are self-employed but have become unemployed or underemployed as a result of the pandemic. Read more about COResponds here.
- RecoverCO helps Coloradans who are unemployed or underemployed as a result of the pandemic by providing comprehensive career and training services for a rapid return to work and supportive services to ease financial burdens during job search and training. Read more about RecoverCO here.
Trainings and Resources for Job Seekers
Please note that some registration links cover the same event over multiple days. Job seekers can see all available training dates by clicking on the drop down menu or “select a date” in the registration links.
Monday, April 26:
- 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.: Abre el Camino a Tu Próximo Trabajo: Solamente en persona--Este taller les ayuda a los que buscan trabajo, hablando de lo que se necesita en la busqueda, incluyendo solicitudes, currículos, y practica para las entrevistas. 918 10th St, Greeley, CO 80631
- 1:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.: Networking
Tuesday, April 27, 1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.: LinkedIn
Wednesday, April 28, 1:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.: Careers in Tech
Thursday, April 29, 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.: 50+ You’re Hired!
In-Person Only: This is a 5-week series of workshops to help those who are 50+ as you look for work. Sign up through your Connecting Colorado account or by calling 970-400-6791. 918 10th St, Greeley, CO 80631
Friday, April 23:
- 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.: HOPE: Helping Offenders Pursue Employment
- In-Person Only: 918 10th St, Greeley, CO 80631, 970-400-6791
- 1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.: Resumes
Who’s Hiring
As of April 21, 2021, there are 75,596 job postings listed on ConnectingColorado.com, the state’s jobs database.
- The following areas and industries have the most job openings as of April 21, 2021:
- Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services (27,035)
- Professional, scientific and technical services (19,790)
- Retail trade (19,362)
- Job titles posted most often:
- Registered nurses (10,349)
- Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (8,967)
- Software developers (6,879)
We’re hiring! Click here to browse the more than 400 jobs open with the State of Colorado right now. The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment and the Office of the Future of Work publish bi-weekly articles to share hiring trends and highlight online and in-person resources to connect workers with meaningful employment. Read the latest article here.
Sector of the Week
As pandemic-related restrictions continue to ease up, an increasing number of employers are beginning to resume hiring. Each week we will highlight a sector that’s hiring. This week’s sector is the restaurant industry. According to EMSI, 9,577 open positions within the restaurant industry were listed in Colorado just last week, and more than 12,000 positions were open in all of March, 2021. As of April 21, 2021, 3,575 restaurant jobs were listed on ConnectingColorado.com.
*Initial claims are claims filed to establish (via a new initial claim) or reestablish (through an additional initial claim after an intervening period of employment) benefit eligibility. Initial claims are typically 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.
As previously reported, the Department has identified an increase in regular UI fraudulent activity since the end of last year. Therefore, initial claims for the week ending April 17th have been adjusted in an attempt to account for fraudulent activity within regular UI. Going forward, CDLE will adjust regular UI initial claims data for fraudulent activity, as well as publish revisions to prior weeks, when necessary. PUA initial claims are also adjusted to account for fraudulent activity.
**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.
Continued claims can be used as a proxy to roughly estimate the number of claimants receiving UI benefits in a given week. However, backdating of claims within PUA and PEUC (due to the reestablishment of those programs through the Continued Assistance Act) significantly limits the use of continued claims as the aforementioned proxy on a week-to-week basis. For an alternative source, CDLE recommends using the weekly regular UI, PUA, and PEUC individual continued claim counts provided above. The Department also produces a report that captures the number of UI payment recipients, by program type, on a monthly basis. The monthly data can be viewed in the final pages of the attached PDF at the end of this press release and has been updated through March 2021.
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