CO Labor Dept.: 5,974 additional Coloradans filed for regular unemployment last week

DENVER — An additional 5,974 people filed for traditional unemployment benefits in the week ending Sept. 5, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment said Thursday, an increase from 137 from the week prior.

A total of 2,216 people in Colorado applied for state-level Pandemic Unemployment Assistance in that week, which is assistance for gig workers, the self-employed and others who wouldn’t normally qualify for regular benefits. There were 16,417 from two weeks prior, and the state did not report those claims last week due to a data reporting issue.

That specific assistance at the federal level, along with a $600 per week additional benefit for all claims, expired in August.

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The U.S. Senate is expected to vote on a $650 billion relief package including a $300 weekly add-on for unemployment assistance, which the Democratically-controlled House is likely to defeat as Democrats call the bill too small in scope to meet the needs of Americans.

In lieu of a congressional deal, President Donald Trump signed executive orders in previous weeks that among other actions diverts $40 billion in federal disaster funding to give most unemployment claimants $400 per week through the end of December, with the first $100 being paid by the state.

Colorado was approved in recent weeks to tap into that funding for four weeks.

The number of regular continuing claims was at 161,759 Coloradans in the week ending Aug. 29, amounting to a drop of just more than 15,000 ongoing claims. The number of continued claims for pandemic-specific assistance was relatively steady at 62,835 as of Sept. 5.

Colorado distributed $60.5 million in regular unemployment-insurance payments in the period, a drop from $65.9 million the prior week.

Nationwide, the U.S. Labor Department said 884,000 Americans filed for first-time benefits in the week, a slight rise of 3,000 from the week prior. Those figures are not directly comparable to the last several months of national claims figures due to a change in how the department adjusts for seasonal employment.

State labor officials do not seasonally adjust their weekly claims alongside the U.S. Department of Labor’s figures.

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