Initial unemployment claims increase 4%
BOISE, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK) - Idahoans filed 5,687 new claims for unemployment insurance benefits for the week ending July 18. That is an increase of 4%, or 229 claims, over the previous week.
The number of people who requested a continued benefit payment dropped by 4% to 27,622. Â
People working in health care and social assistance again topped the list of people being laid off. They represented 15% of total claims.
Accommodations and food service workers accounted for 14%, manufacturing 13% and retail trade 12%.
Young people were particularly hurt by layoffs. 27% were 25 to 34, 21% were under 25, and 19% were aged 35-44.  53% were women.
During the 18 weeks since the state of emergency began, laid-off workers filed 178,629 initial claims with the Idaho Department of Labor. The department paid out $35.9 million in claims during the reporting week. Total benefit payments to Idahoans totaled $676 million.
More details are available here.
