New Colorado County-by-county Breakdown Shows the Harm of Not Extending Unemployment Insurance
If Congress fails to extend the federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation program more than 20,200 people in Colorado will lose their insurance coverage immediately on Dec. 28, according to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. An additional 29,200 people in Colorado will lose their coverage in the first six months of 2014 if Republicans continue to block an extension of the program, according to Department of Labor estimates.
Federal unemployment insurance took effect in 2008 and has been reauthorized several times since as Americans continue to recover from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. Despite the real progress the economy has made since its near collapse in 2008, there are still 1.3 million fewer jobs than there were before the recession began and long-term unemployment as a percentage of the unemployed is 37 percent, near historic highs.
Failure to extend federal unemployment insurance would also hurt job growth throughout the nation, costing the economy 240,000 jobs, according to the White House Council of Economic Advisers. The CEA estimates that in Colorado alone, failing to extend the program will cost 3,571 jobs.
County | Number of EUC Claims |
Adams County | 2261 |
Alamosa County | 104 |
Arapahoe County | 2540 |
Archuleta County | 52 |
Baca County | 8 |
Bent County | 22 |
Boulder County | 827 |
City and County of Broomfield | 9 |
Chaffee County | 45 |
Cheyenne County | 7 |
Clear Creek County | 50 |
Conejos County | 56 |
Costilla County | 26 |
Crowley County | 12 |
Custer County | 20 |
Delta County | 100 |
City and County of Denver | 2958 |
Dolores County | 21 |
Douglas County | 831 |
Eagle County | 173 |
Elbert County | 64 |
El Paso County | 3072 |
Fremont County | 187 |
Garfield County | 206 |
Gilpin County | 23 |
Grand County | 43 |
Gunnison County | 44 |
Hinsdale County | 1 |
Huerfano County | 60 |
Jackson County | 11 |
Jefferson County | 2131 |
Kiowa County | 10 |
Kit Carson County | 5 |
Lake County | 21 |
La Plata County | 121 |
Larimer County | 424 |
Las Animas County | 92 |
Lincoln County | 14 |
Logan County | 26 |
Mesa County | 622 |
Mineral County | 2 |
Moffat County | 48 |
Montezuma County | 94 |
Montrose County | 193 |
Morgan County | 103 |
Otero County | 107 |
Ouray County | 18 |
Park County | 64 |
Phillips County | 11 |
Pitkin County | 64 |
Prowers County | 35 |
Pueblo County | 914 |
Rio Blanco County | 13 |
Rio Grande County | 61 |
Routt County | 70 |
Saguache County | 34 |
San Juan County | 5 |
San Miguel County | 39 |
Sedgwick County | 2 |
Summit County | 87 |
Teller County | 103 |
Washington County | 13 |
Weld County | 841 |
Yuma County | 17 |
Total | 20237 |