Des Moines, Iowa — Initial unemployment claims are down again from the previous week.
According to Iowa Workforce Development — or IWD — the number of initial unemployment claims in Iowa, filed between Sunday, April 18, and Saturday, April 24, was 3,893, a decrease of 3,088 from last week’s adjusted numbers. There were 3,494 initial claims by individuals who work and live in Iowa, and 399 claims by individuals who work in Iowa and live in another state.
Workforce Development tells us that the number of continuing weekly unemployment claims was 31,149, a decrease of 1,801 from the previous week. For the week ending April 24, 2021, nearly 50.7% of claimants indicated their claims were not COVID-19 related, which is an increase from 41.5% the previous week.
IWD tells us they will continue to pay eligible claimants for the federal extensions for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance or PUA, Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation or FPUC, and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation or PEUC through September 4, 2021. They tell us that if you do exhaust regular state benefits, you will be automatically enrolled in the PEUC program.
IWD officials say that if you are notified that your benefit year has expired, you must file a new claim online to determine your continued eligibility. Due to current call volumes, IWD encourages customers to call only if they need assistance filing their claims. Additional customer questions can be answered by emailing uiclaimshelp@iwd.iowa.gov. IWD officials say thank you for your patience and understanding.
