SALT LAKE CITY — Over the week of April 5 to the 11th saw 24,171 more Utahns file for unemployment as the coronavirus pandemic continues to affect the worldwide economy.
The Department of Workforce Services says that March’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate is estimated at 3.6%. Approximately 57,900 Utahns were unemployed and actively seeking work during March.
“All of the major sectors that we measure had unemployment claims filed by the end of the month,” Nate McDonald with the Department of Workforce Services told Utah’s Morning News.
McDonald says this latest number brings the state’s four-week total unemployment claims that can attribute to the pandemic to over 100,000.
That tops the entire 63,000 claims filed in all of 2019.
“That means that they have been temporarily laid off or furloughed, but when things come back their employer plans on bringing them back.”
McDonald says that if anyone is looking for unemployment resources to visit the workforce services officials have a page on their website answering common questions about how someone can qualify for assistance.
You can hear the full interview with Nate McDonald on Utah’s Morning News below: