NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: Nov. 13, 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 was unchanged for the week ending Nov. 7 with 8,143, only 19 more than the previous week. The four-week moving average for continued claims decreased slightly – from 8,187 for the week ending Oct. 31 to 8,127.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits totaled 5,008 for the week ending Nov. 7, increasing by 1,089 claims, while the four-week moving average was up by 10 percent to 4,021.

The department paid out $5.8 million in claims during the week ending Nov. 7, the same amount for the week ending Oct. 31. Regular state benefit payouts were $1.8 million, the same as the previous week, but 1.9 times higher than the same week in 2019. Of the CARES Act programs, Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) payments paid out $1.5 million, the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) paid out $2.3 million and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) paid out $.2 million.

Total benefit payments to laid-off Idahoans attributed to COVID-19 have reached $913 million. Regular state unemployment insurance benefits made up $210.1 million of the total, with PEUC benefits at $40 million, PUA benefits at $80.8 million, FPUC benefits at $539.5 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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