The number of Iowans who filed unemployment claims in the week that ended on Saturday was changed little from the previous week, according to Iowa Workforce Development.

The state agency reported that 53,935 Iowans filed unemployment claims last week, including 6,320 who filed first-time claims. In the week that ended on Feb. 6, 54,148 Iowans filed unemployment claims.

The state agency also reported that:

• 1,899 of the new claims filed last week, or 30%, were filed by people who work in construction.
• $16.28 million in jobless benefits was paid out of the state’s unemployment compensation trust fund. Since mid-March, Iowa has paid out more than $1.15 billion in unemployment claims from the fund.
• $18.9 million was paid in federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation benefits. Since April 4, more than $1.7 billion has been paid to Iowans from the fund.
• $4.5 million was paid in federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits. Since April 13, more than $202 million has been paid to Iowans from the fund.

National data
New unemployment claims filed for week ending Feb. 13: 861,000
People continuing to receive jobless benefits for week ending Feb. 6: 4.4 million
Advanced seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for week ending Feb. 6: 3.2%

Note: The continuing claims and unemployment rate lag by a week from initial claims filings.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor