Utah’s New Jobless Claims Down Slightly As National Numbers Rise

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Utah saw its number of new unemployment claims decline slightly last week, even as the numbers nationwide climbed by approximately 45,000 claims.

The Utah Department of Workforce Services reported 3,143 Utahns filed first-time unemployment benefits for the week ending March 13. That’s more than 100 fewer claims from the week before, when 3,289 people filed for new benefits.

Continued claims also dropped slightly from 31,701 for the week ending March 6 to 30,906 last week.

“The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 extends many of the federally-funded unemployment benefits to individuals who have had their work disrupted by the pandemic,” said Kevin Burt, director of the Unemployment Insurance Division for the Utah Department of Workforce Services. “The incredible staff in our Unemployment Insurance Division are making these critical benefits available to eligible Utahns, while continuing to require and encourage claimants conduct an active job search to find those employment opportunities currently available in Utah’s recovering economy.”

The American Recovery Act of 2021 temporarily extended many of the previously available unemployment benefits to eligible Utahns. These benefits include a weekly $300 stimulus, the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program (unemployment for the self-employed), and federally-funded extended benefits to those who exhaust their traditional state unemployment benefit. Go to jobs.utah.gov/covid19 for more information.

Nationally, 777,000 people filed for first-time jobless benefits, and about 4.1 million filed continued claims.