DENVER (AP) - New applications for unemployment benefits rose by nearly 20 percent in Colorado last week as the first round of gig and self-employed workers were able to apply for help under a new federal program established to respond to the coronavirus economic shutdown.
Last week, 79,290 people, just over half of them gig and self-employed workers, filed initial unemployment claims, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment said Thursday. There were 67,334 applications filed during the week prior to that, before the state was able to start accepting applications from self-employed and gig workers who normally do not qualify for unemployment benefits. Those workers will be paid benefits funded by the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program.
The latest round of applications raised the number of new people seeking unemployment payments over the last five weeks in Colorado to 358,489.
Last week, the state began paying an extra $600 a week to all people approved for and receiving unemployment payments under another federal program that helps both regular workers and self-employed and gig workers, the federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program.
It is too early to say whether unemployment claims due to the outbreak have peaked yet. But even if they decline in the next few weeks, claims would still be at historic levels, the department’s senior economist, Ryan Gedney said.
The increase in benefit applications comes as the state begins easing restrictions to stop the spread of the virus, allowing some businesses to reopen and forcing their employees to decide whether they feel comfortable going back to work.
In normal times, workers who refuse a job offer are not allowed to collect unemployment payments. But a new emergency rule says that workers, particularly those who are vulnerable to contracting COVID-19, will not be in danger of losing benefits if they can show that their working conditions are not safe.
An employer could contest an employee’s refusal to return to work, triggering a review by the labor department, spokeswoman Cher Haavind said.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.