CARSON CITY, NV – Though the unemployment in Nevada saw a bit of a drop last week, new claims for uemployment assistance saw a slight rise.
For the week ending October 24th, initial claims for unemployment insurance were up 3.5 percent compared to last week, according to finalized data from the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR). Through the week ending October 24th, there have been 737,081 initial claims filed in 2020, 715,429 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 by 8.9 percent. It marked the 11th straight week that continued claims fell, and were the fewest continued claims since the week ending March 28th.
Nevada’s overall unemployment rate fell 0.85 percentage points to 9.15 percent.
One number that stood out in the latest report: The number of PUA claims filed.
The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program provides up to 46 weeks of benefits for the self-employed, 1099 contract workers, and gig workers. That program saw 57,783 initial claims filed in the week ending October 24, an increase of 360.9 percent, from last week. This marked increase is questionable given the underlying economic conditions. DETR will track this latest data to identify any potential trend related to increases in initial claim submittals. Through the week ending October 24, there have been 562,389 PUA initial claims filed.
PUA continued claims, meanwhile, were down one percent week to week.