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Plateau in Utah unemployment claims shows 'ongoing disruptions'

File photo: People line up outside the Utah Department of Workforce Services in Salt Lake City.
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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Department of Workforce Services' latest unemployment report shows the number of continued claims is still falling, but a steadiness in the number of new claims shows "ongoing disruptions" in the state's employment outlook.

For the week of September 13-19, Utahns filed 4,473 new unemployment claims, compared with 4,193 the previous week.

47,389 Utahns continued their unemployment claims in the week of September 13-19, a decrease of nearly 2,200 from the previous week.

“It is promising to see the number of continued claims for unemployment benefits decrease every week, unfortunately it also appears that new claims have begun to plateau, showing ongoing disruptions to employment,” said Kevin Burt, Unemployment Insurance Division director for the Utah Department of Workforce Services. “While employment disruptions have continued during this pandemic, Utah’s economy has shown itself to be resilient as evidenced by the latest Utah unemployment rate of 4.1%.”

As of September 12, the number of Utahns who did not request unemployment benefits was 1,615 - a sharp decrease from the 3,735 people who met the same criteria the previous week.