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DES MOINES - The number of initial unemployment claims in Iowa, filed between Sunday, April 18, and Saturday, April 24, was 3,893, a decrease of 3,088 from last week’s adjusted numbers. There were 3,494 initial claims by individuals who work and live in Iowa, and 399 claims by individuals who work in Iowa and live in another state. The number of continuing weekly unemployment claims was 31,149, a decrease of 1,801 from the previous week. For the week ending April 24, 2021, nearly 50.7% of claimants indicated their claims were not COVID-19 related, which is an increase from 41.5% the previous week.
The U.S. Department of Labor adjusted last week’s initial claim number to 6,981 (a decrease of 274) and continuing claims to 32,950 (a decrease of 596). Iowa Workforce Development relies upon the weekly data released by the U.S. Department of Labor to report its numbers and as such, adopts the revisions to the previously published data.
IWD will continue to pay eligible claimants for the federal extensions for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) through September 4, 2021. If you do exhaust regular state benefits, you will be automatically enrolled in the PEUC program. If you are notified that your benefit year has expired, you must file a new claim online to determine your continued eligibility. Due to current call volumes, we encourage customers to call only if they need assistance filing their claims. Additional customer questions can be answered by emailing uiclaimshelp@iwd.iowa.gov. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
IWD encourages Iowans to be vigilant and take precautions to protect their identities following reports of increased unemployment insurance fraud attempts. Claimants can protect their log-in information such as username, password, and Personal Identification Number (PIN) by making these as challenging as possible. Please be sure to always access our claims website directly via the IWD website rather than through a web browser search. IWD has added enhanced security measures to the claims website to increase the protection and integrity of the unemployment insurance program. We understand these enhanced measures may add additional steps in the filing process, but they are necessary to protect our customers. Please visit the IWD website for more information: www.iowaworkforcedevelopment.gov
IowaWORKS centers and satellite offices are providing limited in-person services to assist customers with work search activities and basic employment assistance. Services include assistance with job searches, applications, resume preparation, and other services to help Iowans with their employment needs. Individuals should telephone their local office first to schedule an appointment as walk-in services may be limited in order to follow social distancing recommendations. Workshops and classes will not be offered at this time. Customers with questions regarding unemployment insurance benefits should continue to contact the IWD call center at 1-866-239-0843 or email uiclaimshelp@iwd.iowa.gov to obtain information about their claims.
For the week ending April 24, 2021, unemployment insurance benefit payments totaled $8,661,749.66. The following industries had the most claims:
● Industry Not Available - Self-employed, Independent Contractors, etc. (617)
● Health Care & Social Assistance (317)
A total of $17,045,400 in FPUC benefits was paid, which include retroactive payments and reauthorized payments that went into effect on Dec. 27, 2020. Since April 4, 2020, a total of $1,956,346,333 in FPUC benefits has been paid.
A total of $2,752,070 was paid in PUA benefits. Since April 13, 2020, a total of $238,384,426.54 in PUA benefits has been paid.
A total of $7,879,401.24 in benefits has been paid in PEUC benefits this week. Since May 27, 2020, a total of $328,906,940.07 in PEUC benefits have been paid.
Claimants receiving unemployment are required to perform weekly work searches. Those who will be required to begin work searches will be notified by IWD. We have also posted updates on our website regarding this requirement. There are currently almost 62,000 job openings at https://www.iowaworks.gov. Not all claimants will be required to begin work searches, including for example, those who are receiving PUA benefits due to a medical condition or lack of childcare.
Employers are required to notify their employees about Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits in accordance with Iowa Administrative Code Section 871-22.19. The requirement ensures that workers are aware of the benefits they may be eligible for if they become unemployed or experience a reduction in hours.
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An Equal Opportunity Employer/Program
Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request for individuals with disabilities.
www.iowaworkforcedevelopment.gov
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