Press Release
April 23, 2020

Utah’s Unemployment Insurance Claims Report (April 12-18)

SALT LAKE CITY (April 23, 2020) — The number of new claims filed for unemployment benefits in Utah was 19,751 for the week of April 12 to April 18, 2020. Part of the Unemployment Insurance system is filing a weekly claim, there were 95,376 weekly claims filed during that same week. A total of $17,415,394 was paid in traditional unemployment benefits reflecting payments going out and claims being processed in the midst of a record volume. An additional $42,553,770 of the $600 weekly stimulus was paid out to claimants, for a total of $59,969,164 in unemployment benefits for the week. A total of 7,062 Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claims were submitted in the first week of the program.

Utah’s Unemployment Insurance Claims

April 12-18

Total New Claims

% Change

(+/-)

Total Weekly Claims

% Change

(+/-)

State

Benefits

Paid

% Change

(+/-)

$600 Stimulus Paid

04/12/20 to 04/18/20

19,751

95,376

$17,415,394

$42,553,770

Combined Benefits

$59,969,164

Week over Week

24,171

-18%

74,441

28%

$11,661,720

49%

$6,445,260

Average Weekly Claims 2019

1,131

1,646%

8,856

977%

$2,876,354

506%

“We are encouraged to see another decrease in new claims filed, though we continue to receive them at record levels,” said Kevin Burt, Unemployment Insurance Division director for the Utah Department of Workforce Services. “The Utah unemployment insurance system, and the dedicated staff that run it, continues to effectively and efficiently meet the needs of Utahns and we will make every effort to continue to do so.

The number of individuals who ended their unemployment insurance claim on April 11, 2020 was 1,906. A total of 1,122 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 (13.4%), Sales and Related Occupations (11.4%), and Food Preparation and Serving (9.0%).

The five counties in Utah that had the highest number of individuals file new unemployment insurance claims were Salt Lake (40.4%), Utah (13.4%), Weber (9.6%), Davis (9.4%), and Washington (4.2%).

If an individual's employment has been impacted by COVID-19 they should visit jobs.utah.gov/covid19 for updated information. New information has been added to help employees and employers as individuals begin to return to work and leave the unemployment insurance system.

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