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Colorado Records Lowest Number Of Unemployment Claims Since Pandemic Hit

DENVER (CBS4) - The Colorado economy received some much-needed good news on Thursday. The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment announced Thursday the lowest number of unemployment claims since the pandemic hit.

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(credit: CBS)

For the week ending August 29th, the state reported 5,837 regular initial claims. That is the lowest number of new regular claims since COVID-19 in mid-March.

Since mid-March, the state has reported 542,619 regular initial claims. The weekly report of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claims was not released for the week of August 29th due to a data reporting issue.

The Department has paid out nearly $4.8 billion in unemployment benefits since March 29th. That number includes regular unemployment benefits and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance funds. Of that, $568.4 million has gone to gig workers or those who are self-employed who have filed for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

The Accommodation and Food Service industry made up the highest percentage of people filing for unemployment assistance at 12.8%. The Retail Trade industry is second at 11.4%, Healthcare and Social Assistance is third at 10.8%.

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