One Billion Dollars in Unemployment and PUA Benefits Paid Out in Utah Since Economic Shutdown
The total amount in Utah unemployment benefits paid out to Utahn’s from March 15th, 2020 to July 4th, 2020 was $985,645,579. Add this coming week totals and Utah will have paid out over one billion dollars in unemployment-related assistance. This does not include childcare, food assistance, or Medicaid/healthcare.
In the first three weeks of the shutdown which started on March 15th of this year, more unemployment claims were filed than in all of 2019.
On April 2nd, 2020 Kevin Burt, the Unemployment Insurance Division director for the Department of Workforce Services stated, “We are approaching more new claims in the last two weeks than the number of claims filed in all of 2019”. That was three months ago.
On March 27, 2020, Congress passed a federal stimulus package known as the CARES Act, or the Relief for Workers Affected by Coronavirus Act. Within this act are three benefits that unemployed individuals may be eligible for.
The three unemployment insurance benefits added through the CARES Act included:
- Increased Unemployment Compensation Benefits
This emergency benefit provides most individuals an emergency increase in traditional unemployment insurance benefits of $600 per week through July 31, 2020. (In Utah these benefits are set to expire on July 25th due to the way Utah processes claims) - Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation
This benefit provides an additional 13 weeks of emergency unemployment insurance for people who remain unemployed after they have exhausted their traditional unemployment benefits. (Most recipients will see their benefits extended until the end of December this year) - Pandemic Unemployment Assistance
This emergency benefit provides up to 39 weeks of unemployment insurance benefits to people not otherwise eligible for regular unemployment, including the self-employed and those who have exhausted their regular and extended benefits.
“These benefits are new programs that will take time to put in place for Utahns as we coordinate with the federal government,” explained Kevin Burt, Unemployment Insurance Division director for the Department of Workforce Services.
For some perspective, we put together the following timeline/outline to help illustrate the huge workload this program has had on state caseworkers since the shutdown. The average total in weekly claims that were paid out in 2019 was $2,876,354 per week. Here’s what happened as we dove into the shutdown.
March 15th through the 21st 2020 – $3,697,473 in State benefits were paid out
March 22nd through the 28th 2020 – $3,972,938 in State benefits were paid out
March 29th through April 4th – $6,881,153 in State benefits were paid out
April 5th through the 11th – $11,661,720 in State Benefits plus $6,445,260 in ($600 weekly Stimulus Funds) for a total of $18,106,980
April 12th through the 18th – $17,415,394 in State Benefits plus $42,553,770 in ($600 weekly Stimulus Funds) for a total of $59,969,164
April 19th through the 25th – $22,647,841 in State Benefits plus $40,440,870 in ($600 weekly Stimulus Funds) for a total of $63,088,711
+ Pandemic Unemployment Assistance – $139,520 Paid to non-traditional ‘gig’ or previously self-employed workers. (The first week these funds were available)
April 26th through May 2nd – $25,978,788 in State Benefits plus $50,711,110 in ($600 weekly Stimulus Funds) for a total of $72,958,968
+ Pandemic Unemployment Assistance – $1,613,371 Paid to non-traditional ‘gig’ or previously self-employed workers.
May 3rd through the 9th – $27,845,417 in State Benefits plus $50,711,110 in ($600 weekly Stimulus Funds) for a total of $78,556,527
+ Pandemic Unemployment Assistance – $3,603,951 Paid to non-traditional ‘gig’ or previously self-employed workers.
May 10th through the 16th – $26,858,365 in State Benefits plus $48,667,041 in ($600 weekly Stimulus Funds) for a total of $75,525,406
+ Pandemic Unemployment Assistance – $5,688,924 Paid to non-traditional ‘gig’ or previously self-employed workers.
May 17th through the 23rd – $26,427,924 in State Benefits plus $48,804,420 in ($600 weekly Stimulus Funds) for a total of $75,993,123
+ Pandemic Unemployment Assistance – $8,114,773 Paid to non-traditional ‘gig’ or previously self-employed workers.
May 24th through the 30th – $25,463,189 in State Benefits plus $47,995,870 in ($600 weekly Stimulus Funds) for a total of $74,694,296
+ Pandemic Unemployment Assistance – $7,947,756 Paid to non-traditional ‘gig’ or previously self-employed workers.
May 31st through June 6th – $25,840,982 in State Benefits plus $48,284,790 in ($600 weekly Stimulus Funds) for a total of $75,206,065
+ Pandemic Unemployment Assistance – $11,179,606 Paid to non-traditional ‘gig’ or previously self-employed workers.
June 7th through the 13th – $24,899,671 in State Benefits plus $47,076,780 in ($600 weekly Stimulus Funds) for a total of $73,152,836
+ Pandemic Unemployment Assistance – $11,909,228 Paid to non-traditional ‘gig’ or previously self-employed workers.
June 14th through the 20th – $23,868,989 in State Benefits plus $45,756,510 in ($600 weekly Stimulus Funds) for a total of $71,011,859
+ Pandemic Unemployment Assistance – $16,246,145 Paid to non-traditional ‘gig’ or previously self-employed workers.
June 21st through the 27th – $23,664,687 in State Benefits plus $45,719,400 in ($600 weekly Stimulus Funds) for a total of $70,961,499
+ Pandemic Unemployment Assistance – $15,088,927 Paid to non-traditional ‘gig’ or previously self-employed workers.
+ Pandemic Extended Unemployment Claims – $1,360,865 (The first week these funds started being applied)
June 28th through July 4th – $22,393,373 in State Benefits plus $43,588,200 in ($600 weekly Stimulus Funds) for a total of $65,981,573
+ Pandemic Unemployment Assistance – $12,681,610 Paid to non-traditional ‘gig’ or previously self-employed workers.
+ Pandemic Extended Unemployment Claims – $1,487,199
As you can see, these numbers are staggering, and with the additional $600 per week in assistance set to expire in just a few short weeks, it is yet to be seen, just how all of this will affect the thousands of unemployed Utahn’s still waiting for the economy to completely recover. During the week ending on July 4th, 2020, there were still 97,791 active claims being processed. In 2019, the average number of weekly claims was just 8,856.
See our previous articles on the CARES Act and the Pandemic Unemployment Insurance programs.
CARES Act Provides Unemployment Insurance for the Self Employed
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program Now Available in Utah
