DETR: Regular initial and continued claims see little change; Majority of claimants receiving program benefits

For the week ending March 13, initial claims for unemployment insurance (UI) totaled 10,086, down 462 claims, or 4.4 percent, compared to the previous week’s total of 10,548 claims, according to finalized data from the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR).

Through the week ending March 13, there have been a total of 888,820 initial claims filed since the week ending March 14, 2020.

Continued claims, which represent the current number of insured unemployed workers filing weekly for unemployment insurance benefits, totaled 71,247 claims, a decrease of 811 claims, or 1.1 percent, from the previous week’s total of 72,058. Continued claims have seen little change over the last four weeks.

Nevada’s Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program, which provides benefits to individuals who have exhausted their regular unemployment benefits, saw 96,381 claims filed in the week, an increase of 24,686 claims from last week’s total of 71,695.

The passage of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) significantly expanded the number of weeks that many workers will be able to collect pandemic-related unemployment insurance benefits. ARPA extended Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation through week ending September 4, 2021.

Nevada’s State Extended Benefit (SEB) program which provides benefits to individuals who have exhausted both their regular and PEUC program benefits, saw 39,933 claims filed in the week, a decrease of 25,028 claims from a week ago.

The insured unemployment rate for the regular unemployment insurance program, which is the ratio of regular continued claims in a week to the total number of jobs covered by the unemployment insurance system (also known as covered employment), was unchanged from the previous week at 5.4 percent.

Including claimants in the benefit extension programs, the rate, more appropriately called the extended insured unemployment rate, was 15.7 percent. It should be noted that the calculation of the insured unemployment rate is different from that of the state’s total unemployment rate.

The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, which provides benefits for self-employed, 1099 contract workers, and gig workers saw 4,086 initial claims filed in the week ending March 13, a decline of 1,066 claims, or 20.7 percent, from last week’s total of 5,152.

Initial applications for the PUA program continue to be highly variable due to ongoing high levels of fraudulent applications. Through the week ending March 13, there have been a total of 1,102,935 PUA initial claims filed.

There were 74,370 PUA continued claims filed in the week ending March 13, a decrease of 6,150 claims, or 7.6 percent, from the previous week’s revised total of 80,520.

Please note that beginning in April, DETR will return to a monthly schedule for the unemployment insurance claims press release. The weekly claims report and dashboards will continue to be updated weekly and available at www.nevadaworkforce.com.

To file for regular unemployment in the State of Nevada, please use the online application available 24/7 at http://ui.nv.gov/css.html. People unable to file online may file via telephone by calling a UI Claims Call

Center between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Monday through Friday. Northern UI Call Center: (775) 684-0350; Southern UI Call Center: (702) 486-0350; Rural areas and Out-of-State: (888) 890-8211. Claimants are encouraged to use the internet to file their UI claims, as it is the fastest and most convenient way to file and reserves the phone lines for individuals who are not able to file online. Online filing during non-peak hours, such as early mornings, at night or weekends is also highly recommended. To continue to receive benefits, claimants must file weekly.

DETR is actively working with law enforcement entities and the Department of Labor to detect, prevent and address unemployment fraud. Employers and individuals who believe they have been a victim of unemployment fraud, can file a report with the agency by visiting www.detr.nv.gov and selecting the Unemployment Fraud tab on the left under “Quick links” and clicking on “Report Fraud to DETR.” Once a report is filed with the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR), nothing else is required by the reporting party. DETR will flag the account so payments are not issued. If needed, the Department may reach out for additional information. To view what additional steps individuals and employers can take if they believe a fraudulent claim has been filed, review DETR’s fraud flyer located on the Bulletin Board at www.detr.nv.gov.

Individuals who may have received a 1099-G who did not file a claim with the State of Nevada, or received an incorrect 1099-G from DETR, can file a report online with the agency by visiting detr.nv.gov, selecting the Unemployment Fraud tab on the left under “Quick links” and then clicking on “Request a 1099-G Correction”.

For Nevada workers who are self-employed, 1099 contract workers, and gig workers, Nevada’s Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program (PUA) is available. For further information regarding the PUA program visit, detr.nv.gov/pua#. Individuals will be able to file online at www.employnv.gov or call the PUA Call Center

at (800) 603-9681 or 775-298-6007 or 702-998-3081 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Monday through Friday, and

Saturday between 8 a.m. and noon.

Claimants are encouraged to visit http://ui.nv.gov/css.html and detr.nv.gov/coronavirus to view important announcements and access essential resources. Online tutorial videos are also available in both English and Spanish and can be viewed on the Nevada Unemployment Insurance YouTube page.