7,644 initial unemployment claims were filed last week in Iowa, an increase of 373 (5.13%) from the previous week.
7,101 initial claims for the week of Dec. 20-26 were by people who work and live in Iowa, and 543 were by individuals who work in Iowa but live outside the state.
"For the week ending Dec. 26, 2020, nearly 70.6% of claimants indicated their claims were not COVID-19 related, which is an increase from 68.9% the previous week," Iowa Workforce Development said in a release.
The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell by 19,000 last week to a still historically-high 787,000 based on U.S. Department of Labor statistics.
President Donald Trump's signing of a funding bill with included coronavirus relief on Dec. 27 will directly impact Iowa unemployment claims, IWD noted:
On Dec. 27, 2020, the President signed into law extensions for the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) programs which were set to end December 26th. IWD will therefore be able to prevent a gap in payments for either of these programs and individuals currently receiving benefits from the programs, will continue to receive them without interruption. IWD continues to await guidance from U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) before Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) benefits and new applications for PUA and PEUC benefits filed after December 27th can be paid. IWD anticipates the guidance will be issued within the next two weeks.
$10,653,383.50 in Iowa unemployment insurance benefits were paid out last week.
Continuing claims for the week were 38,296, an increase of 804 (2.1%) from the previous week.
The following industries had the most claims, according to IWD:
- Construction (1,884)
- Manufacturing (1,312)
- Industry Not Available - Self-employed, Independent Contractors, etc. (736)
- Administrative, Support, Waste Management, and Remediation Services (564)
- Accommodation & Food Services (414)
Additional data released for last week:
- $748,200 paid in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) benefits, which were retroactive payments as the program ended July 25, 2020. Since April 4, 2020, a total of $1,628,022,433 in FPUC benefits has been paid.
- $4,013,548 paid in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) PUA benefits. Since April 13, 2020, a total of $170,687,854.54 in PUA benefits has been paid.
- $6,793,708.10 in benefits has been paid in Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) benefits. Since May 27, 2020, a total of $179,609,709.74 in PEUC benefits have been paid.