19,751 New Jobless Claims Filed In Utah Last Week

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – There were 19,751 new unemployment claims filed in Utah for the week ending April 18, according to the latest numbers from the Utah Department of Workforce Services.

That’s down 4,420 claims from the week before.

“We are encouraged to see another decrease in new claims filed, though we continue to receive them at record levels,” said Kevin Burt, Unemployment Insurance Division director for the Utah Department of Workforce Services. “The Utah unemployment insurance system, and the dedicated staff that run it, continues to effectively and efficiently meet the needs of Utahns and we will make every effort to continue to do so.”

However, Utah also received an additional 7,062 new claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance—that’s paid for through the federal CARES Act and is for the self-employed and others who are not eligible for traditional unemployment.

There were also more than 95,000 weekly unemployment claims for that same week and nearly $60 million in benefits paid. The bulk of those payments ($42.5 million) were current and back payments for the $600 weekly stimulus benefit.

“We still have about 70% of people that are applying for benefits that are job attached,” Burt explained, “meaning that the expectation or the hope is that they will return to the job which they were furloughed from.”

The unemployment office hopes out-of-work Utahns will quickly return to work as companies get their Paycheck Protection Program loans and seek to rehire their employees

“The unemployment benefit is temporary. It is time limited, as is the $600,” Burt said. “So if there is an opportunity to return to work we would encourage you to take advantage of that.”

If a person is offered their job back and doesn’t take it, Burt said that is considered quitting and that could cause payments to stop. Businesses owners can even report an employee who turns down an offer to return to work.

Nationwide, 26 million Americans filed new jobless claims.

Those whose employment has been impacted by the pandemic are urged to visit jobs.utah.gov/covid19 for updated information.