Utah unemployment continues to climb into fourth week
The Utah Department of Workforce Services’ Administrative Offices stands Thursday, March 26, 2020, in Salt Lake City. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
The Utah Department of Workforce Services’ Administrative Offices are pictured on Thursday, March 26, 2020, in Salt Lake City. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
Over 22 million Americans are without jobs after a fourth consecutive week of relatively high unemployment insurance claims.
In Utah, 24,171 residents filed new initial claims in the week ending April 11, which is a 27% decrease from unemployment claims filed in the week ending April 4, according to the weekly report by the Utah Department of Workforce Services. During that same week, 74,441 weekly claims were also filed, a 124% increase from prior weeks.
For the fourth consecutive week, Utah County maintained its position as the county with the second highest new unemployment insurance claims, making up 13.8% of new claims.
“Our priority remains processing claims and providing Utahns with the benefits they’re in need of,” said Kevin Burt, Unemployment Insurance Division director for the Utah Department of Workforce Services. “We are accomplishing this as the benefits going out continue to grow and two new federal programs have been created and made available.”
Salt Lake County still leads the top five list with 39.6% of new claims. Weber, Davis and Washington counties round out the list with 9.9%, 9.5% and 4.8% of new claims, respectively.
For the second week in a row, office and administrative support remained the hardest-hit industry, with 13% of new claims coming from residents who self-reported working in such fields. Sales and related occupations (12%) and food preparation and serving (9.5%) also remained on the top three most impacted industries.
Nationally, the U.S. Department of Labor announced 5.24 million people filed initial claims during the week ending on April 11. The agency previously announced that it received 6.6 million unemployment insurance claims two weeks in a row, which brought the non-adjusted insured unemployment rate to 8.2% as of April 4.
For the week ending April 4, Georgia saw the largest increase with 256,312 of its residents filing for unemployment insurance. Michigan, Arizona, Texas and Virginia rounded out the rest of the list, seeing between 34,000 and 84,500 initial claims. California, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio and Massachusetts all saw significant decreases.
“Today’s report reflects the continuing impact of the important public health measures being taken to defeat the coronavirus,” Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia said in a statement. “Americans are making sacrifices for the well-being of the country, and the Trump Administration is moving quickly to support workers and small businesses during this difficult time.”
The Department of Labor has encouraged each state to implement unemployment benefit expansions under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. According to Scalia, 29 states — including Utah — are now paying those on unemployment insurance an additional $600 each week. The remaining states, he said, will begin providing expansion benefits as their systems update.
In order to make these expansions possible, the U.S. Department of Labor has allocated over half a billion dollars in administrative funding to all 50 states in an effort to help mitigate the surge in claims and lessen the burden on their staffs and computer systems.
States must first apply and meet requirements set by Congress in order to receive the additional funding.
Utah paid $11.6 million in traditional unemployment insurance benefits, which reflects payments going out and claims being processed in the midst of a record volume. This most recent week was also the first week that the CARES Act $600 weekly stimulus was made available, with an additional $6.4 million paid to claimants.
Including the stimulus benefits from the CARES Act, a total of $18 million was paid to unemployed Utah residents during the week ending on April 11, according to the Utah Department of Workforce Services.
The department also announced the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program earlier this week, which makes benefits available for self-employed individuals and other non-traditional employees who weren’t previously eligible for unemployment benefits.
Residents can check if they are eligible for the program by visiting the Utah Department of Workforce Services website and using the department’s ”Am I Eligible?” tool. Those who apply should expect 21-30 days for the applications to process.
Unemployment claims can be filed online with the Utah Department of Workforce Services. For those whose employment has been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, the department has made a web page to answer frequently asked questions, offer workshops twice each day, and help residents gather information to acquire a new job.