Initial claims for unemployment fall for second week in a row

The Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation reports that initial claims for unemployment benefits fell by almost 7,000 to 21,635 last week.

That is the second consecutive decrease in initial claims but officials point out that 440,744 people have filed in just the last nine weeks following the governor’s order to close most businesses in the state.

Continuing claims for benefits, as expected, increased again and as of the week ending May 9 totaled 324,444. That is an increase of 20,871 from the previous week.

That raises the state’s insured unemployment rate to 23.5 percent, the highest in state history.

Continuing claims are the current number of unemployed who are filing weekly for benefits.

Next week’s numbers could improve significantly since that will see some workers in retail stores, restaurants and other businesses return to their jobs.

Gov. Steve Sisolak has ordered that those and some other businesses be allowed to reopen with restrictions including social distancing, a limit of 50 percent occupancy of stores and restaurants and mandates that employees wear masks when dealing with customers.