SALT LAKE CITY — The number of new claims filed for unemployment benefits in Utah was 5,455 for the week of May 17-23, 2020.
There were 97,570 weekly claims filed during that same week.
A total of $26,427,924 was paid in traditional unemployment benefits.
An additional $48,804,420 of the $600 weekly stimulus was paid out to claimants, as well as $760,779 in federally funded extended benefit payments, for a total of $75,993,123 in unemployment benefits for the week.
A total of 2,278 new Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claims were submitted.
The number of individuals who ended their unemployment insurance claim on May 16, 2020 was 9,772.
A total of 6,583 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.
“We have now received the same amount of claims in the last ten weeks that were filed over the previous three years, while successfully standing up all the federal stimulus benefits made available by the CARES Act,” said Kevin Burt, Unemployment Insurance Division director for the Utah Department of Workforce Services. “I can’t say enough about the staff and how hard they have worked to provide this critical benefit to those who desperately needed it.”
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 (15%)
- Sales and Related Occupations (9%)
- Management Occupations (8.7%)
The five counties in Utah that had the highest number of individuals file new unemployment insurance claims were:
- Salt Lake (40%)
- Utah (15%)
- Davis (8.4%)
- Weber (7.7%)
- Washington (3.5%)
Burt will go over these latest numbers in a media briefing at 9:30 a.m.
It will be streamed live on the Fox 13 News website and Facebook page.