Initial Unemployment Claims Rise, But Continuing Claims Decrease

July 9, 2020

Iowa Workforce Development (IWD) announced there were 10,698 initial unemployment claims filed by individuals for the week of June 28 through July 4. That number is just over 2,000 claims higher than last week. There was approximately $32 million paid out of the state unemployment trust fund, which is about $2 million less than the week prior and does not include federal benefits paid. The best news of the week came from the number of continuing weekly unemployment claims. That number dropped by approximately 17,000 to a total of 135,177. This significant change indicates people are steadily getting back to work. The top sectors that saw the most initial claims filed included manufacturing (3,448); those not identified by industry including the self-employed, independent contractors, etc. (1,670); and health care and social assistance (833). Read IWD's news release.