Employment agency sees 635% weekly spike for new PUA claims
New claims for the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program shot up 635 percent last week from the week before, the state workforce agency said Friday, casting doubt on the legitimacy of the increase.
The Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation said 61,290 initial PUA claims were filed for the week ending Dec. 5, up 53,000 from the previous week.
“This marked increase is questionable given the underlying economic conditions,” said agency spokeswoman Rosa Mendez in a release Friday. The agency said it is investigating the sharp increase in new PUA claims and to see if there are any potential trends.
The PUA program, aimed at self-employed workers or independent contractors, provides up to 46 weeks of benefits for eligible filers that are not covered by regular unemployment insurance. More than 719,250 initial PUA claims have been filed in Nevada through the week ending Dec. 5.
On Thursday, the agency said it would send out mass ineligibility notices to more than 167,000 PUA claims. DETR took similar action in October, sending out 217,500 ineligibility letters for PUA filers.
Initial claims for Unemployment Insurance were also up last week. More than 8,700 new claims for UI were filed for the week ending Dec. 5, up 36 percent, a sign that more people have lost their jobs.
Filers submitting continued UI claims, which represent the current number of insured unemployed workers filing weekly for unemployment insurance benefits, also shot up. More than 85,600 Nevadans filed for continued claims at the same time, an increase of 1,300 claims from the previous week. DETR said it is the “first increase in regular continued claims since August 8.”
Contact Jonathan Ng at jng@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ByJonathanNg on Twitter.