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SALT LAKE CITY — Tens of thousands of Utahns are still filing for unemployment assistance as the coronavirus outbreak continues to impact the state's economy, and a state official is warning that time is running out on extended aid from the federal government.
"Keep in mind that the (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act program — the pandemic unemployment assistance — has an expiration date of Dec. 26, meaning the program itself ceases to be funded effective Dec. 26th," Unemployment Insurance Division Director Kevin Burt said during a weekly news conference. "Right now, there is discussion of extended stimulus talks; those stalled before the election. We don't know what will happen at a congressional level post-election. But what we do know right now is the pandemic unemployment assistance is set to expire on Dec. 26 of this year, regardless if an individual has done the 39 weeks or not."
The Utah Department of Workforce Services reported Thursday the number of new claims filed for unemployment benefits statewide were 3,866 for the week of Oct. 25 through Oct. 31, down slightly from the previous week's 3,993 new claims. There were also 31,239 continued claims filed during the week.
A year ago, the average number of combined weekly jobless claims was just under 10,000.
With the various programs designed to help individuals withstand the financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic set to expire at year's end, Burt said, the state is urging people still looking for work to seek positions in industries that have been able to rebound economically.
"The positive thing is that Utah's economy is recovering. It is showing some progress and there are certainly industries that are doing very well," he said. "It's just a matter of actively looking for industries, even if it's in a different industry than what you have worked in before."
Burt also noted that for businesses, besides CARES Act funding, there are also other potential sources for financial relief.
"There are grants available for small businesses to apply for in order for them to continue to pay their employees that have been asked to quarantine," he said. "So that may be a better option (than layoffs or loans) if you certainly wanted to retain your talented employees. Those funds are available for small businesses to apply for to continue to pay their employees to create that safe environment and just keep them on their payrolls."
Businesses can visit coronavirus.utah.gov for more information.
The number of people who have not requested a benefit for two consecutive weeks as of Oct. 24 registered at 3,134, down from 3,919 who met the same criteria the previous week, the agency's report noted.
"We continue to see some positive trends in the claims data, as new claims have gone down for three consecutive weeks while continued claims have decreased for 26 consecutive weeks," Burt said. "We do expect to see a seasonal increase in claims, as well as continued employment disruption with the ongoing pandemic concerns, but certainly not near the levels we saw earlier this year; Utah's economy continues to recover and prove to be very resilient."
Since March, when the pandemic forced massive layoffs, the division has processed more than 333,000 claims compared to 63,000 all of last year, he said. The office has paid out nearly $1.6 billion in benefits during the past eight months — about eight years of payments under normal circumstances, he added.
Nationally, the number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell slightly last week to 751,000, a still-historically high level that shows that many employers keep cutting jobs in the face of the accelerating pandemic, the Associated Press reported.
Eight months after the pandemic flattened the economy, weekly jobless claims still point to a stream of layoffs. Before the virus struck in March, the weekly figure had remained below 300,000 for more than five straight years.
Thursday's report from the Labor Department said the number of people who are continuing to receive traditional unemployment benefits declined to 7.3 million. That figure shows that some of the unemployed are being recalled to their old jobs or are finding new ones, the AP said. But it also indicates that many jobless Americans have used up their state unemployment aid — which typically expires after six months — and have transitioned to the federal extended benefits program through the CARES Act.
The job market has been under pressure since the virus paralyzed the economy and has regained barely half the 22 million jobs that were lost to the pandemic in early spring. The pace of rehiring has steadily weakened — from 4.8 million added jobs in June to 661,000 in September, according to the AP. On Friday, when the government issues the October jobs report, economists foresee a further slowdown — to 580,000 added jobs — according to a survey by the data firm FactSet.
Last week, nearly 363,000 people applied for jobless aid under a new program that extended eligibility for the first time to self-employed and gig workers, up slightly from 359,000 the previous week. That figure isn't adjusted for seasonal trends, so it's reported separately.
All told, the Labor Department said 21.5 million people are receiving some form of unemployment benefits, though the figure may be inflated by double-counting by some states.
Contributing: Associated Press
