Initial Unemployment Claims Continue to Fall as People Head Back to Work

With more businesses getting back into operations, initial unemployment claims for the week of May 10-16 fell to just over 12,000. This is the second consecutive week initial claims are down ,which is a positive sign for the state of the economy. $50.9 million was paid out of the trust fund for benefits, which means over $200 million has been paid out of the state unemployment trust fund in the four weeks. The number of continuing weekly unemployment claims was 187,375, which is lower for the first time in several weeks. Sectors that saw the most initial claims filed included manufacturing (4,679); those who are not identified by industry including the self-employed, independent contractors, etc. (1,251); and health care and social assistance (1,261). As of this Monday, there was $977 million in the state unemployment trust fund and employers paid $130 million in first quarter unemployment taxes to Iowa Workforce Development. Read the news release.