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Unemployment claims grow by 63%, state points to fraud

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - The number of Coloradans filing for unemployment more than doubled from the last week of December to the first week of January.

Over 41,000 people filed initial unemployment claims in Colorado last week alone. That's an over-63% increase compared to the week before when little over 25,000 Coloradans filed initial claims.

That state says fraud is suspected due to the sharp increase.

Cher Haavind is the Chief Communications Officer for the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment and says they are conducting fraud analysis at this time.

"We believe that due to the expiration of the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, that criminals who are using stolen identities have now been filing fraudulent claims with regular unemployment," Haavind said.

Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) was put on hold last week after the CARES Act funding expired. Meaning, gig workers and those who were self-employed, and were dependent on PUA claims have not been able to receive unemployment benefits.

The state says that PUA benefits will continue again when federal guidance is received and the systems are updated.

Though there is not an exact time on when the system will be updated, the state says PUA benefits should be available by the end January or mid-February.

If you believe your identity has been stolen, and fraud is suspected with unemployment benefits, report it to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.

For more on the state's unemployment numbers and for help finding a job click here.

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Hanna Knutson

Hanna is the traffic reporter for Good Morning Colorado. Learn more about Hanna here.

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