The number of Iowans who filed unemployment claims in the week that ended on Saturday changed little from the previous week, data released today by Iowa Workforce Development shows.

Overall, 52,664 people filed unemployment claims last week, just 270 more than the week that ended on Jan. 16. 

Additionally, the state agency reported that during the week that ended on Saturday:
•5,510 initial claims were filed, a 13.5% drop from the previous week. Of the initial claims filed, 18%, or 1,001, were filed by people who work in construction.
•$15.7 million in jobless benefits was paid out of the state’s unemployment compensation trust fund. Since mid-March, Iowa has paid out more than $1.12 billion in unemployment claims from the fund.
•$18.8 million was paid in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation benefits. The $300 per week payment was resumed last week after enactment of an additional federal relief package. The benefit, paid to eligible unemployed workers, includes retroactive payments. Since April 4, more than $1.65 billion has been paid to Iowans from the fund.   

National data
New unemployment claims filed for week ending Jan. 23: 847,000
People continuing to receive jobless benefits for week ending Jan. 16: 4.7 million
Advanced seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for week ending Jan. 2: 3.4%

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