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Iowa sees fewest initial jobless claims since March
John Steppe
May. 21, 2020 9:49 am, Updated: May. 21, 2020 5:53 pm
Iowa Workforce Development received 13,040 new unemployment claims and handled another 187,375 continuing unemployment claims last week, the department announced Thursday.
It is the lowest number of initial claims filed since March 14.
The state paid almost $51 million in unemployment benefits from May 10 to May 16, and the federal government paid another $106.8 million in jobless benefits.
The federal government has paid $651.3 million in unemployment benefits to Iowans since April 4.
Workers in the manufacturing industry had the most new unemployment claims last week, at 4,679.
That total was followed by self-employed workers or independent contractors, at 1,251, and workers in health care or social assistance, at 1,216.
Initial claims have decreased steadily in May after peaking in April at 64,194 claims.
The numbers reflect only people who are actively looking for work and does not necessarily paint a full picture of how many people are out of work.
Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com
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