The latest number of continued state claims is 17,142 for the week ending June 20, a decrease of 8,044 from the pandemic high of 25,186 for the week ending May 9. This indicates the number of unemployed workers eligible for and receiving benefits after their initial claim.
“I want to remind claimants that not returning to work when there is available work could be considered a refusal of work or voluntary quit, resulting in the loss of benefits,” said state Labor and Regulation Secretary Marcia Hultman. “Employees absolutely have the right not to go to work, but that is a personal choice and may impact their employment status.”
During the week of June 28 through July 4, a total of 799 initial weekly claims for state unemployment benefits were processed by the Department of Labor and Regulation. This is an increase of 155 claims from the prior week’s total of 644.
A total of $3.0 million was paid out in state benefits, in addition to $9.8 million paid out in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), $628,000 in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and $83,000 in Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) benefits.
The Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund balance July 5 was $126.3 million.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nationally, more than 1.3 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, a historically high pace that shows that many employers are still laying people off in the face of a resurgent coronavirus. The persistently elevated level of layoffs are occurring as a spike in virus cases has forced six states to reverse their move to reopen businesses. Those six — Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Michigan and Texas — make up one-third of the U.S. economy. Fifteen other states have suspended their re-openings. Collectively, the pullback has stalled a tentative recovery in the job market and is likely triggering additional layoffs
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