Colorado Unemployment Claims Rise By 67,000; Nearly 280,000 Initial Claims Overall

DENVER (CBS4) - Colorado's first-time unemployment claims rose by more than 67,000 last week, according to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. Those numbers reflect the claims filed for the week ending April 18.

The overall number of first-time unemployment claims is now at 279,199.

The State Labor Department has now begun paying out benefits to self-employed claimants under the CARES Act. CDLE also began paying Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (PUC) to eligible claimants. That provides an additional $600/week for unemployment benefits for both Unemployment Insurance and PUC claimants. The extra benefit is added to the regular benefit amount, and paid with regular benefits after the weekly certification. No extra action is needed to claim the additional benefits.

The Accomodation and Food Services industry has been hardest hit. According to the CDLE, the Top 5 industries in Colorado with the highest claims are as follows:

• Accomodation and Food Service: 12,967
• Retail Trade: 10,295
• Healthcare and Social Services: 8,932
• Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation: 3,893
• Other (Personal Services, Beauty Salons, Nail Salons, Barbers, etc.): 3,781

More than 150,000 people have made online requests for payment since March 16th. Last week, the state paid out $74.1 million in benefits. That's up from $62 million in benefits the week prior and $29.8 million the week before that.

There was confusion for gig employees who could finally file for unemployment starting Monday.

A manager with the CDLE explained people who worked for any time in the past 18 months for an employer and received a W-2 must first file for regular unemployment and exhaust those benefits before being able to file for the gig employment benefits.

She went on to explain it's not a decision at the state level but rather is built into the federal legislation. She admits it has presented the state with a real challenge processing the claims.

The average 2020 weekly benefit payment amount, before the Coronavirus unemployment spike, was $8.7 million. Claims can be filed on the State Department of Labor's unemployment portal.