Idaho unemployment claims up 143%
BOISE, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK) - Idaho workers filed 32,941 claims for unemployment in the past week, an increase of 143%. That is a record number of initial claims for a one-week period and is 2.4 times higher than the previous week.
Idaho Department of Labor analysts have also revised the number of initial claims filed for the week of March 15-21 to 13,585. That pushes the total to 46,526 since Governor Brad Little declared a state of emergency. It is an increase of 4,400% from the week prior to March 8.
You can see a full breakdown of the statistics here.
Workers in all age groups have been affected by COVID-19 related layoffs. But people under 25 are a disproportionate share of the total. The increase for that group was 2,506% between March to March 21. It continued this week, up 120% for the week of March 22.
Women also made up 60% of the people filing initial claims. That statistic flipped from a week ago, when 67% of those filing were men.
More than a third of the new claims came from the Boise area. The increase was only 4.9% in the Idaho Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area and 2.8% in the Pocatello MSA. 55% of those filing were laid off from the fields of accommodations and food services, health care and social assistance, and retail trade.
Idaho industries posting the highest percentage of new claims over the previous week were mining, up 767%, manufacturing, up 306%, other services, up 282%, and construction, up 256%.
