BOISE, Idaho — Unemployment continued claims have continued to fall for the 22nd consecutive week of declines, according to the Idaho Department of Labor. During the week ending on October 3, the number dropped 8% from the previous week to 9,144 claims.
The four-week moving average for continued claims fell 9% from 11,284 for the week ending September 26 to 10,314 for the week ending October 3. Initial claims for unemployment benefits totaled 2,955 for the week ending October 3, dropping slightly by 40 claims, pushing the four-week moving average down by 6% to 3,265.
The department paid out $7.1 million in claims during the week ending October 3, unchanged from the week ending September 26. Regular state benefit payouts were $2 million, down from $2.2 million for the previous week, but 2.5 times higher than the same week in 2019.
The Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) program paid out just $112,200, down from the prior week’s payout of $323,100. Payouts for LWA ended on September 30. Of the CARES Act programs, Pandemic Extended Unemployment Compensation payments (PEUC) paid out $1.7 million, the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) paid out $2.4 million and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) paid out $.9 million.
Total benefit payments to laid-off Idahoans attributed to COVID-19 has reached $883.1 million. Regular state unemployment insurance benefits made up $201 million of the total, with PEUC benefits at $32.1 million, PUA benefits at $69.4 million, FPUC payments at $538 million and LWA benefits at $42.6 million.
For more information on weekly claims, including county and industry breakdowns, click here.
