Iowa Workforce Development reports initial unemployment insurance claims filed for week of May 17 – May 23, 2020

DES MOINES – The number of initial claims in Iowa, filed between Sunday, May 17, and Saturday, May 23, was 14,586. There were 13,365 initial claims by individuals who work and live in Iowa, and 1,221 claims by individuals who work in Iowa and live in another state.

The number of continuing weekly unemployment claims was 180,679.

Unemployment insurance benefit payments totaled $48,828,481.83 for the same week.

The following industries had the most claims:

Manufacturing (3,835)
Industry Not Available – Self-employed, Independent Contractors, etc. (2,382)
Health Care & Social Assistance (1,399)
Retail Trade (923)
Accommodation & Food Services (898)

A total of $104,376,000 in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) benefits was paid during the week of May 17-23, 2020. Since April 4, 2020, a total of $661,090,200 in benefits has been paid.

A total of $5,579,759 was paid in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits during the week of May 10-16, 2020.

This week IWD began to process Pandemic Extended Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) benefits for individuals who have already received 26 weeks of benefits prior to or during the pandemic. Claimants can expect to see deposits early next week for these claims including retroactive payments of PEUC and FPUC payments.