New Jobless Claims In Utah Drop To 4,264

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah Department of Workforce Services on Thursday reported that 4,264 residents filed new jobless claims for the week ending Oct. 17.

That number is down from the week before, when 4,658 workers filed new claims.

A total of 34,579 continued claims were filed last week, which is down from the 37,571 that were reported the week prior.

UDWS reports that 4,713 workers have not requested unemployment benefits for two consecutive weeks as of Oct. 10. There were 3,617 Utahns who met that same criteria during the previous week.

“Over the last seven months of the pandemic, the unemployment division has received claims nearly totaling the number of new claims filed in the previous five years combined, as well as approximately paying out more unemployment benefits than were paid in the previous eight years combined,” said Kevin Burt, Unemployment Insurance Division director for the Utah Department of Workforce Services. “In spite of this overwhelming demand, Utah’s trust fund currently remains solvent and we are confident it will continue to meet the ongoing demand, while more than 20 states’ own trust funds have gone insolvent.”

Nationally, new jobless claims fell to about 787,000, which is approximately 55,000 fewer that the week before. The Labor Department also reported that the number of continued claims in the United States was 8.4 million last week, a dramatic decrease of about 1 million from the the week prior.

If an individual’s employment has been impacted by COVID-19, they should visit jobs.utah.gov/covid19 for updated information including help for employees and employers returning to work.