State unemployment insurance claims decline in regular and PUA programs

County claims fall

CARSON CITY – Finalized data from the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR) show initial claims for unemployment insurance (UI) totaled 7,951 for the week ending September 5, down 81 claims, or 1.0 percent, compared to last week’s total of 8,032 claims. This is the fewest initial claims filed since the week ending March 14. Through the week ending September 5, there have been 678,351 initial claims filed in 2020, 656,699 of which have been filed since the week ending March 14.

Continued claims, which represent the current number of insured unemployed workers filing weekly for unemployment insurance benefits, fell for the fourth straight week to 216,187, a decline of 5,412 claims, or 2.4 percent, from the previous week’s total of 221,599. This is the fewest continued claims since the report week ending April 11 when there were 189,007 claims filed.

Lincoln County recorded three initial and 53 continued claims for the week ending September 5. Those numbers are down from six and 59 during the week prior.

Nevada’s insured unemployment rate, which is the ratio of continued claims in a week to the total number of jobs covered by the unemployment insurance system (also known as covered employment), fell by 0.4 percentage points to 15.6 percent. It should be noted that the calculation of the insured unemployment rate is different from that of the state’s total unemployment rate.

The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, which provides up to 46 weeks of benefits for the self-employed, 1099 contract workers, and gig workers saw 9,832 initial claims filed in the week September 5, a decrease of 579, or 5.6 percent, from last week’s total of 10,411. This is the fewest PUA initial claims filed in a week since the start of the program. Through the week ending September 5, 441,179 PUA initial claims have been filed.

PUA continued claims totaled 99,397 in the week ending September 5, a decline of 11,459, or 10.3 percent, from the previous week’s revised total of 110,856. Weekly PUA continued claims are now reported by the benefit week claimed. This follows the reporting procedure for regular continued claims and allows us to understand the number of unemployed workers filing weekly for PUA benefits.

Nevada’s Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program, which provides up to 13 weeks of benefits to individuals who have exhausted their regular unemployment benefits, saw 25,898 claims filed in the week, an increase of 2,138 claims from a week ago. In the next several weeks, PEUC claims are expected to increase sizably as large cohorts of regular program filers exhaust their regular benefits.

Nevada’s State Extended Benefit (SEB) program, which provides up to 20 weeks of benefits to individuals who have exhausted both their regular unemployment benefits and PEUC program benefits, saw 3,187 claims filed in the week, an increase of 298 claims from a week ago.

Nationally, the advance figure for unadjusted regular initial claims was 857,148 an increase of 20,140 claims from the previous week. The national insured unemployment rate for the week ending August 29 was 9.0 percent, unchanged from the previous week’s rate. The national rate is reported with a one-week lag.

Unemployment filing is available at http://ui.nv.gov/css.html or (888) 890-8211. Claimants are encouraged to file online, if possible. 

For Nevada workers who are self-employed, 1099 contract workers, and gig workers, Nevada’s Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program (PUA) is available. For further information regarding the PUA program visit detr.nv.gov/pua#. Individuals can file online at www.employnv.gov or call the PUA Call Center at (800) 603-9681.

Employers and individuals who believe they have been a victim of unemployment fraud can file a report with the agency by visiting www.detr.nv.gov  and selecting the Fraud Reporting Form on the left under “Quick Links.”

DETR announced recently that Nevada’s application for the Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) Grant Program has been approved.

Nevada’s request of nearly $224 million, the maximum the state could ask for, will provide claimants who were eligible the first three weeks of August with up to an additional $300 per week in temporary supplemental financial support. LWA payments will be issued to eligible individuals retroactive to the week ending August 1. 2020.

Nevada has been approved for three weeks of funds and plans now to apply for additional funds to cover up to three more weeks.

In anticipation of an approved application, the DETR team here has been looking at the technical requirements and making plans for implementation. With the application approved, the State is working on the necessary technology changes to the current system to accommodate the program.DETR estimates it will take four to six weeks to complete system updates before the agency can begin issuing payments to eligible claimants. No action is required from eligible claimants.