NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: Oct. 22, 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 24th consecutive week, dropping 2 percent for the week ending Oct. 17 to 8,215. The four-week moving average for continued claims fell by 7 percent – down from 9,533 for the week ending Oct. 10 to 8,910.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits totaled 3,293 for the week ending Oct. 17, decreasing by 226 claims while the four-week moving average fell by just 1 percent to 3,191.

The department paid out $5.8 million in claims during the week ending Oct. 17, down from $6.3 million for the week ending Oct 10. Regular state benefit payouts were $1.8 million, down from $1.9 million for the previous week, but 2.1 times higher than the same week in 2019. Of the CARES Act programs, Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) payments paid out $1.6 million, the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) paid out $2.2 million and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) paid out $.2 million.

Total benefit payments to laid-off Idahoans attributed to COVID-19 have reached $895.4 million. Regular state unemployment insurance benefits made up $204.7 million of the total, with PEUC benefits at $35.4 million, PUA benefits at $74.1 million, FPUC benefits at $538.6 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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