Tag Archives: Benefits

Idaho’s Weekly Initial Claims Decline Slightly from Previous Week

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: June 18, 2020
Media Contact: Salvador Vazquez, salvador.vazquez@labor.idaho.gov or Craig Shaul, craig.shaul@labor.idaho.gov

Record amount of $86 million paid out during the week of June 7-13

New initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits totaled 3,631 for the week ending June 13, decreasing 8 percent – or 322 claims – from the previous week.

The four-week moving average declined 12 percent to an average of 3,989 new initial claims per week.

Continued claims – the number of people who requested a benefit payment – dropped by 23 percent from the previous week to 36,764, the largest of six consecutive weeks of declines. The four-week moving average of 48,068 also fell 11 percent from the previous four-week average.

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Labor Department Makes Progress on Paying Backlog of Unemployment Claims

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: June 17, 2020
Media Contact: Georgia Smith, georgia.smith@labor.idaho.gov or Darlene Carnopis, darlene.carnopis@labor.idaho.gov

An executive order signed by Gov. Brad Little, temporarily easing some unemployment insurance eligibility requirements, has allowed the Idaho Department of Labor to increase the number of unemployment insurance claims being paid.

This and other measures have lowered pending claims from 42,000 to just over 20,000. The number of active individuals who had filed a claim but not yet received a payment dropped from more than 17,000 to 8,500 individuals as of June 16.

During the first 12 weeks since the COVID-19 state of emergency declaration, more than 2.5 times the total number of initial claims were filed than in all of 2019. Of the 149,227 initial claims filed, seventy-five percent were filed in the first five weeks. That created a huge backlog of claims. The department estimates the backlog of pending claims will be eliminated by the end of July.

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Idaho’s Weekly Initial Claims Maintain Steady Pace

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: June 11, 2020
Media Contact: Salvador Vazquez, salvador.vazquez@labor.idaho.gov or Craig Shaul, craig.shaul@labor.idaho.gov

New initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits totaled 3,953 for the week ending June 6, increasing 8 percent – or 307 claims – from the previous week.

The four-week moving average of new initial claims declined 9 percent to an average of 4,532 new initial claims per week.

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Idaho’s Weekly Unemployment Initial Claims Decrease 22% Over Previous Week

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: June 4, 2020
Media Contact: Georgia Smith, (208) 332-3570 ext. 2102 or Craig Shaul, (208) 332-3570 ext. 3201

New initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits totaled 3,646 for the week ending May 30 – declining 22 percent from the previous week.

Continued claims – the number of people who requested a benefit payment – declined for the fourth consecutive week, falling to 51,035, down 10 percent from the previous week.

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Labor Adds Phone Lines and Agents to Help Answer Claimant Calls

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: May 29, 2020
Media Contact: Georgia Smith, (208) 332-3570 ext. 2102

The Idaho Department of Labor has contracted with a call center to provide additional agents for claimants who want to talk to someone about their claim beginning Monday. The goal is for claimants to eventually experience shorter hold times.

All claimants who call Labor will be directed to call 208-332-8942 – where an additional 30 people will be available to answer calls, take new claims over the phone and unlock accounts, among other tasks. These additional resources free up Labor staff to handle more complex issues with claims.

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Idaho’s Weekly Initial Claims Decrease 18% Over Previous Week

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: May 28, 2020
Information Contact: Georgia Smith, (208) 332-3570 ext. 2102 or Darlene Carnopis, (208) 332-3570 ext. 3439

Initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits from workers laid off due to COVID-19 continued to decline, dropping 18 percent from 5,800 for the week ending May 16, to 4,727 for the week ending May 23.

Continued claims – the number of people who requested a benefit payment – continued to decline for the third consecutive week, falling to 56,692, down 5.7 percent from the previous week.

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Labor Department Seeks Help in Preventing Fraud

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: May 19, 2020
Information Contact: Darlene Carnopis, (208) 332-3570 ext. 3439

The Idaho Department of Labor is asking for the public’s help in preventing unemployment insurance fraud.

“Idaho employers and workers are our first – and best –  line of defense against unemployment insurance fraud,” said Jani Revier, Labor director.

The department is asking people who are notified by the department that a claim has been filed when they did not file the claim, to send an email to fraud@labor.idaho.gov. Do not include personally identifiable information such as a Social Security number in the email. A Labor employee will follow up for more information. Employers who notice a claim has been filed for one of their employees who is still working, should also alert the department.

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Idaho Sees 5,795 New Weekly Initial Claims Because of COVID-19

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: May 14, 2020
Information Contact: Craig Shaul, (208) 332-3570 ext. 3201 or Salvador Vazquez, (208) 332-3570 ext. 3218

Initial claims reached 5,795 during the week ending May 9, a 23 percent decline from the previous week.

Laid-off Idaho workers filed 131,101 initial claims for unemployment benefits during the eight weeks of the COVID-19 state of emergency – 2.2 times the total number of initial claims filed in all of 2019.

It was the sixth week the number of new claims fell, while continued claims – the number of people who claimed benefits – fell to 65,478, a decline of 9 percent from the previous week.

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Labor Ready to Accept Applications for Extended Unemployment Insurance Benefits

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: April 30, 2020
Information Contact: Georgia Smith, (208) 332-3570 ext. 2102

Idahoans who are out of work and have exhausted regular unemployment insurance benefits can now apply for extended benefits under the CARES Act online at labor.idaho.gov/claimantportal.

Changes made by the Idaho Department of Labor to its system will add an additional 13 weeks to an eligible claimant’s unemployment benefit year. To qualify, a claimant must have a claim with a benefit year ending date after July 1, 2019.

The payments are retroactive to March 29 or the first week after an individual exhausts benefits, whichever is later.

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Idaho’s Weekly Initial Claims Because of COVID-19 Reach 117,000

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: April 30, 2020
Information Contact: Georgia Smith, (208) 332-3570 ext. 2102 or Craig Shaul, (208) 332-3570 ext. 3201

Laid-off Idaho workers filed 117,811 initial claims for unemployment benefits during the six weeks of the COVID-19 state of emergency – twice the total number of initial claims filed in all of 2019.

Initial claims reached 8,827 during the week ending April 25, a 32 percent decline from the previous week.

It was the third week the number of new claims fell, while continued claims – the number of valid claims filed by people who are eligible, currently claiming benefits and still unable to return to work – reached 71,416. Continue reading →