12,941 Coloradans file for first-time unemployment, slight rise from prior week
DENVER — An additional 12,941 people filed for unemployment benefits in the week ending June 6, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment said, bringing the number of Coloradans who have claimed a work loss during the pandemic to just under 500,000.
The initial claims number released Thursday morning is up 792 from the week ending May 30, marking the eighth straight week of declines in new claims.
An additional 10,151 self-employed and gig workers applied for federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, which provides benefits to workers traditionally not eligible for state-level unemployment. A total of 540,506 claimants have requested those federal benefits.
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CDLE also reported that 262,915 state residents were on continuing unemployment benefits as of the week ending May 30. State data on continuing claims lags behind initial claims by a week.
The rate of continued claims took a yo-yo effect throughout May, bouncing between around 260,000 and around 245,000 every other week.
CDLE senior economist Ryan Gedney attributed that pattern to churn in claimant activity, which makes determining if ongoing claims are decreasing or increasing difficult. He said a long-term pattern has yet to arise, but believes the available data suggests a slowdown in state residents needing assistance.
“Basically those levels are stabilizing or plateauing, but at least they’re not significantly increasing, so at least that’s a positive takeaway,” he said.
Colorado distributed $93.1 million in regular unemployment-insurance payments in the week, up from $88.8 million the prior week. Overall, the state has paid out $796.1 million out of its trust fund since late March, bringing it closer to insolvency and a potential payroll tax spike in 2021.
Nationwide, the U.S. Department of Labor said an additional 1.54 million Americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits, a drop of 335,000 from the week prior. However, that additional figure now brings the total number of Americans who claimed that they lost work during the pandemic to more than 44 million. About 20.9 million of those applicants still are receiving benefits.
CDLE will release its May employment situation and jobs report next Friday.
