Initial unemployment claims decrease for eighth week in Nevada

Initial claims for unemployment benefits decreased to 10,620 during the week ended June 20.

Dave Schmidt, chief economist for the Department of Employment Training and Rehabilitation, said that is the eighth consecutive week of decreases in initial filings.

Continued filings, which he said represent those who are unemployed in Nevada, also declined in Phase 2 as 17,360 people returned to their jobs. But there are still 294,649 receiving benefits.

That cut the unemployment rate by more than a percent to 21.4 percent.

The separate Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program for the self-employed, 1099 contract workers and gig workers saw 29,440 initial claims during the week, up 4,720 from the previous week. That program is for workers who don’t qualify for regular UI benefits. Continued PUA claims now total 114,776, which is down 11,183 from the previous week.

Finally there is the Nevada Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program which provides benefits to those who have exhausted their 13 weeks of regular unemployment benefits. The week ending June 20 saw 7,817 new claims, an increase of 622 from the week before.

Schmidt said Nevada has now paid out a total of just about $4 billion, much of it federal money through the CARES Act and has $950 million left in its Unemployment Trust Fund.