With businesses having to close their doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic it is no surprise there is a growing number of unemployment insurance claims coming into the state. In an Unemployment Insurance Claims Report shared on Thursday, the Department of Workforce Services reported that last week alone there was 28,560 new claims filed in the state and a total of nearly $4 million dollars paid out in benefits. To put that number in context, the average claims in 2019 were just over 1,100 each week. “We are approaching more new claims in the last two weeks than the number of claims filed in all of 2019,” said Kevin Burt, Unemployment Insurance Division director for the Utah Department of Workforce Services. “The Unemployment Insurance Division staff continue to work diligently to meet this unprecedented volume. Strategies continue to be implemented to respond to this need, as well as the new benefits being described in the CARES Act, but with this historic demand there will be some disruption in our normal service levels.” The additional benefits through the federal CARES Act include increased compensation benefits, pandemic emergency unemployment compensation, and pandemic unemployment assistance. If your employment has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, please visit jobs.utah.gov/covid19.
