Iowa unemployment claims decrease for third straight week

By: John Steppe Mar. 18, 2021 2:03 pm Updated: Mar. 18, 2021 2:07 pm

Iowa saw an increase in new unemployment claims for the second consecutive week for the week ending March 13, but total unemployment claims decreased for the third consecutive week.

New claims rose from 5,182 to 5,973 while continuing claims fell from 44,013 to 40,699.

A growing portion of the claims were related to coronavirus, likely signaling a decrease in seasonal layoffs.

About 41.9 percent of claims were related to the pandemic, IWD said, which was up from 40.9 percent in the week ending March 6.

Manufacturing was the largest source of claims with 1,335, followed by self-employed and independent contractors with 1,012, construction with 458, retail trade with 442, and health care and social assistance with 387.

The claims resulted in $27.2 million in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, $14.1 million in standard unemployment benefits, $13.5 million in Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation and $3.7 million in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

These numbers are preliminary and are yet to be adjusted by the U.S. Department of Labor. They also only include people actively seeking work and therefore does not necessarily count everyone who is out of work.

Comments: (319) 398-8394; john.steppe@thegazette.com

A man wears a mask while walking under a 'Now Hiring' sign at a CVS Pharmacy in May 2020. (Jeff Chiu/AP Photo)