New Unemployment Claims In Utah Remain Steady At 4.5K

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah Department of Workforce Services reported 4,548 Utahns filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week.

That number is relatively unchanged from the week before, when 4,557 workers applied for benefits.

Since September 2020, the state’s new jobless claims have remained somewhat steady, fluctuating by a few a hundred from week to week. Exceptions happened at the end of the year and the beginning of January when new unemployment claims jumped from 5,588 to 7,630.

Continued claims fell slightly from 34,752 for the week ending Jan. 30 to 33,691 last week.

“After a five-week increase in continued claims, primarily a result of the recent federal extensions to the unemployment benefits, last week we saw an overall decrease in continued, ongoing unemployment claims,” said Kevin Burt, Unemployment Insurance Division director for the Utah Department of Workforce Services. “This is another of many indicators that Utah’s economy is recovering and many employment opportunities are available.”

Nationally, 793,000 Americans filed for initial unemployment benefits, and there were 4.5 million continued claims.

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.