A security guard instructs Jon Berry, right, to take down a sign he attached to a fence in front of the Grant Sawyer State Office Building as gig workers protest the Nevada unemployment office on Friday, June 12, 2020 in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Gig workers gather with signs and wave to passing motorists along E. Washington Ave. to protest the Nevada unemployment office in front of the Grant Sawyer State Office Building on Friday, June 12, 2020 in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Trabajadores temporales se reúnen con carteles y saludan a los automovilistas que pasan por la Avenida East Washington para protestar contra la oficina de desempleo de Nevada frente al edificio de oficinas estatales Grant Sawyer el viernes, 12 de junio de 2020 en Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Thousands of independent contractors and those who are self employed are also experiencing payment delays with DETR’s Pandemic Unemployment Assistance filing system, which rolled out in Nevada with technical glitches and weeks after the federal program was announced. Some PUA filers protest their plight on Friday, June 12, 2020 in front of the Grant Sawyer State Office Building along E. Washington Ave. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
A screenshot of Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation’s website. (DETR)
Continued claims, which represent the current number of insured unemployed workers filing weekly for unemployment insurance benefits, fell for the second straight week to 228,203, a decline of 12,143 claims, or 5.1%, from the previous week’s total of 240,346. This is the fewest continued claims since the report week ending April 11 when there were 189,007 claims filed.
Nevada’s workforce agency said recent initial jobless claims for the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program are “highly suspect.”
The state Department of Employment, Training, and Rehabilitation said Friday that it saw 50,698 initial claims for the PUA program, meant for independent contractors and gig workers, filed last week. The agency saw 57,783 initial PUA claims the week before, calling the applications “questionable.”
The new PUA claims for the last two straight weeks, in the 50,000-range territory, represent a nearly five-fold increase compared to the initial PUA figures in late September and early October. DETR said it will require additional verification from the new PUA claims “given the underlying economic conditions.”
Continued claims for PUA totaled 94,950 last week, increase of 5,697 claims, from the week prior.
There have been 613,087 PUA initial claims filed with DETR since the program launched.
State unemployment officials have previously said the agency is battling an influx of bogus unemployment applications, contributing to payment delays.
“We are tracking this latest data to identify any potential trend related to increases in initial PUA claim submittals, but don’t have anything to report at this time,” agency spokeswoman Rosa Mendez said in a statement about the recent spikes.