Jobless claims dip for first time since Sept. 11 attacks

Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2001 | 10:45 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The surge of worker layoffs appears over, as new claims for unemployment dipped to 4,584 last week.

It was the lowest number since the week of Sept. 11, when terrorists attacked the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon, Birgit Baker, director of the state Division of Employment Security, said today.

The 4,548 new claims compares with the previous week of 7,577 and 2,922 filed the week of Sept. 11.

Baker reported 35,889 people continue to receive unemployment checks, about 2,000 more than the previous week.

The unemployment fund paid out $7.5 million in benefits, up from $6.7 million the previous week. But the fund, which totals more than $500 million, is not in any danger of being exhausted, Baker said.

Those who are jobless file their unemployment claims by telephone. Calls to the agency dipped to 13,931, down about 1,800 from the previous week. The average wait time for an employee to answer was just under 28 minutes.

Baker said she hoped to have the waiting time drop as new employees come online. The last of the 40 new workers that were authorized after the Sept. 11 attack are being trained and should be on the job next week.

The number of callers who hung up before being served last week totaled 3,508, up from 3,375 of the previous week. And the number of calls seeking information rose from 5,252 to 5,413.

Baker said that is expected, as more workers qualify for benefits and are call to determine when they will get the checks or question the amount of money they received.