El Paso County sees 3774% jump in jobless claims at end of March due to COVID-19
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- New numbers released by the Colorado Department of Labor highlight the huge number of people who filed jobless claims due to COVID-19.
In El Paso County alone, the number of jobless claims in one week at the end of March increased 3,774% from the average week.
The Labor Department reported that 9,801 jobless claims were filed in El Paso County for the week ending March 28, compared to 253 for the average weekly number of claims in 2019.
That's just one week's worth of numbers and follows the announcement by Gov. Jared Polis to close many businesses in an effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
The number of unemployment claims in Colorado surpassed 127,000 over the last three weeks, according to the labor department.
