FILE: Image of the Utah Department of Workforce Services building in Salt Lake City, pictured on Thursday, April 2, 2020. Photo credit: Steve Griffin, Deseret News
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Department of Workforce Services reports another 33,076 Utahns have filed for unemployment insurance over the last week.
This comes as the Department of Labor reports that 1 in 10 Americans have lost their jobs as the coronavirus pandemic continues to stifle the world economy.
Governor Gary Herbert announced this week that Utah will be one of the first states in the country to make implement the extra $600 a week to unemployment assistance as part of the federal CARES act.
“We continue to receive new claims at an unprecedented level,” said Kevin Burt, UnemploymentInsurance Division director for the Utah Department of Workforce Services.
“TheUnemployment Insurance Division staff’s priority is getting payments out. Amidst this workload, the team stands out as one of the first states in the nation to make federal stimulus programs available. I am proud of their outstanding work and the critical resources they’re providing to Utahns.”
The Department of Workforce Services says that the top three industries affected over the last week were Office and Administrative Support (12.9%), Sales and related occupations (11.4%) and Personal Care and Service (10.2%).
The five most affected counties were Salt Lake (43.3%), Utah (14.8%), Davis (9.1%), Weber (7.6%) and Washington (5.3%).
The department directs anyone whose employment has been affected by the COVID-19 virus to jobs.utah.gov/covid19.
Utah officials are expected to release more details about the state’s jobless numbers at 8:30 a.m. Thursday.