During the week of Feb. 14-20, a total of 439 initial weekly claims for state unemployment benefits were processed by the Department of Labor and Regulation. This is a decrease of 169 claims from the prior week’s total of 608.
A total of $1.5 million was paid out in state benefits, in addition to $1.4 million in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), $94,000 in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and $303,000 in Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) benefits.
The Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund balance was $155.1 million on Feb. 21.
The latest number of continued state claims is 5,453 for the week ending Feb. 13, a decrease of 208 from the prior week’s total of 5,661. This indicates the number of unemployed workers eligible for and receiving benefits after their initial claim.
Benefits paid since March 16, 2020:
· Regular State = $102.7 million
· FPUC = $219.2 million
· PUA = $19.1 million
· PEUC = $6.0 million
Total = Approximately $347.0 million
Nationally……
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell sharply last week in a sign that layoffs may have eased, though claims remain at a historically high level. Applications for jobless aid declined 111,000 from the previous week to a seasonally adjusted 730,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. It is the lowest figure since late November and the biggest one-week decline since August. Still, before the virus erupted in the United States last March, weekly applications for unemployment benefits had never topped 700,000.
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