Utah officials: New unemployment claims down from last week; $63M benefits paid to claimants last week

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, April 30, 2020 — The Department of Workforce Services has released unemployment numbers for the week of April 19 to 25.

“Part of the Unemployment Insurance system is filing a weekly claim, and there were 105,010 weekly claims filed during that same week,” a statement from the department says.

“A total of $22,647,841 was paid in traditional unemployment benefits reflecting payments going out and claims being processed in the midst of a record volume. An additional $40,440,870 of the $600 weekly stimulus was paid out to claimants, for a total of $63,088,711 in unemployment benefits for the week. A total of 7,316 new Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claims were submitted.”

New claims were down 40% from the previous week, the statement says. The number represents 946% of average weekly claims during 2019.

“We are encouraged and hopeful to hear from both employers and employees who are returning to work as restrictions begin lifting and assistance like PPP loans are available for employers.”

The number of individuals who ended their unemployment insurance claim on April 18, 2020 was 1,251. A total of 1,906 ended their claim during the previous week. As the state continues to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, this number will help demonstrate the number of individuals no longer accessing unemployment benefits.

The three industries that saw the highest percentage of claims this week, as self-identified by the claimant at the time of their filing, were:

• Office and Administrative Support (14%)
• Sales and Related Occupations (10.5%)
• Food Preparation and Serving (9%)

The five counties in Utah that had the highest number of individuals file new unemployment insurance claims were:

• Salt Lake (39.3%)
• Utah (14.3%)
• Davis (8.6%)
• Weber (7.8%)
• Washington (3.7%)

People whose employment has been impacted by COVID-19 are advised to visit jobs.utah.gov/covid19 for updated information. New information has been added to help employees and employers navigate the process of returning to work, the statement says.