During the week of May 16-22, a total of 197 initial weekly claims for state unemployment benefits were processed by the Department of Labor and Regulation. This is a decrease of 212 claims from the prior week’s total of 409.
The latest number of continued state claims is 2,447 for the week ending May 15, a decrease of 76 from the prior week’s total of 2,523. This indicates the number of unemployed workers eligible for and receiving benefits after their initial claim.
For the week ending May 22, a total of $356,000 was paid out in state benefits, in addition to $701,000 in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), $50,000 in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and $300,000 in Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) benefits.
The Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund balance was $161.9 million on May 23.
Benefits paid since March 16, 2020:
- Regular State = $113.9 million
- FPUC = $235.0 million
- PUA = $20.5 million
- PEUC = $9.9 million
Total = Approximately $379.3 million
Nationally……
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits dropped last week to 406,000, a new pandemic low and more evidence that the job market is strengthening as the virus wanes and economy further reopens. Thursday’s report from the Labor Department showed that applications declined 38,000 from 444,000 a week earlier. The number of weekly applications for jobless aid — a rough measure of the pace of layoffs — has fallen by more than half since January.
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