southwestern unemployment claims reflect covid-19 impact

More than 52,300 new unemployment compensation claims have been filed in the last week in Arizona.
While Arizona officials say that number is high, it is still significantly lower than the 132,000 claims in the state that were filed during the first week of March.

Ongoing or continued claims, meanwhile, have jumped from 18,000 to more than 250,000 in late April.

Governor Douglas Ducey called for a sweeping lockdown of businesses in mid-March during the early weeks of the outbreak.

Although the numbers from April are expected to be high, the most recent unemployment figures from Arizona for March showed the state with a 5.5 percent unemployment rate.

Colorado saw nearly 80,000 people applying for unemployment compensation in the last week of April. Altogether, just over 358,000 people have filed claims in the Centennial State since mid-March.

According to Colorado Department of Labor officials, that number is the equivalent of the total amount of claims filed in the state during the last three years.

Most of the claims have come from people working in the accommodation and food services industries, as well as those in retail trades.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis imposed a general business lock-down during the third week of March, but two weeks ago announced a relaxation of some of those polices, allowing for a number of smaller businesses to open, as long as the people working in them practice social distancing.

As of the end of March Colorado had a 4.5 percent unemployment rate.

New unemployment claims in New Mexico stood at just under 14,000, with a total of more than 125,000 people filing claims between mid-March and the end of April.

The largest claims, as in Colorado, have come from the accommodation and food service industries.

New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced a mandated closing of all non-essential business in the state in late March.

New Mexico, also as of the end of March, had a 5.9 percent unemployment rate.
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Some economists are predicting that the national unemployment rate numbers, to be released later this week, could show a 16 percent unemployment rate, which would be the highest percentage recorded since 1939.

​By Garry Boulard

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