Initial claims for Nevada unemployment triple

Initial claims for unemployment benefits tripled in the week ending March 14 compared to the previous week.

The research team at the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation said initial claims rose from 2,309 to 6,356 as businesses across the state began to close down and tourism visitation fell because of the coronavirus.

Those numbers are the most current the department has available but officials said that is the largest week-to-week increase since 1987.

A spokesman said continuing claims for benefits haven’t shown the same size increase but that those claims tend to lag behind initial claims.

For the week of March 7, continuing claims totaled 19,850. For the week ending March 14 were actually down a bit to 19,475.

Both numbers are expected to spike next week following Gov. Steve Sisolak’s mandate that non-essential businesses shut down.

DETR reports both initial and continuing claims for unemployment benefits on a weekly basis.