DES MOINES, IOWA (April 16, 2020) — The number of initial claims in Iowa reported by the US Department of Labor, filed between Sunday, April 5, and Saturday, April 11, was 46,356. There were 43,862 initial claims by individuals who work and live in Iowa, and 2,494 claims by individuals who work in Iowa and live in another state.
The number of continuing weekly unemployment claims is 128,819.
A total of $37,881,985.37 of unemployment insurance benefits were paid to claimants for the same week.
The following industries had the most claims:
- Health Care and Social Assistance (6,789)
- Manufacturing (6,002)
- Retail Trade (5,813)
- Accommodation and Food Services (4,292)
- Industry Not Recognized (9,604)
Iowa Workforce Development began paying CARES Act benefits this week including the additional $600 Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) weekly benefit amount as well as unemployment claims for the self-employed. This week a total of $60,999,000 in benefits were paid to 93,546 Iowans.
Employers or claimants with questions can e-mail Iowa Workforce Development at uiclaimshelp@iwd.iowa.gov or call us at 1-866-239-0843. Please check www.IowaWorkforceDevelopment.gov for the specific information needed within the email in order for us to answer your questions. We continue to update our website several times a day and it contains the most recent and accurate information. It also contains videos, webinars, FAQs and other forms of assistance for all of the different types of claims and programs such as the most updated information on the CARES Act benefits and payments.
Iowa Workforce Development does not accept paper applications for unemployment benefits. We ask that Iowans not file paper applications or utilize applications that provide paper applications on your behalf. This will significantly delay processing and payment of your unemployment claims. We encourage Iowans to continue to utilize our website to file for unemployment benefits.
For more information on the total data for this week’s unemployment claims, please visit https://www.iowalmi.gov/unemployment-insurance-statistics.
