NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: Oct. 15, 2020
Media Contact: Craig Shaul, Craig.Shaul@labor.idaho.gov or Salvador Vazquez, Salvador.Vazquez@labor.idaho.gov

The number of Idahoans who filed a continued claim for unemployment insurance benefits fell for the 23rd consecutive week, dropping 8 percent for the week ending Oct. 10 to 8,386. The four-week moving average for continued claims also fell by 8 percent – down from 10,314 for the week ending Oct. 3 to 9,533.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits totaled 3,519 for the week ending Oct. 10, increasing by 564 claims as the four-week moving average fell by just 1 percent to 3,227.

The department paid out $6.3 million in claims during the week ending Oct. 10, down from $7.1 million for week ending Oct 3. Regular state benefit payouts were $1.9 million, down from $2 million for the previous week, but 2.3 times higher than the same week in 2019. Of the CARES Act programs, Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation payments (PEUC) paid out $1.6 million, the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) paid out $2.4 million and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) paid out $.4 million.

Total benefit payments to laid-off Idahoans attributed to COVID-19 have reached $889.5 million. Regular state unemployment insurance benefits made up $202.8 million of the total, with PEUC benefits at $33.8 million, PUA benefits at $72 million, FPUC benefits at $538.3 million and Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) benefits at $42.6 million. LWA payments ended Sept. 30.

Additional information on weekly claims including county and industry details/breakdowns is available on Idaho’s claim data dashboard at https://lmi.idaho.gov/ui-weekly-claims.

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