More than 16,700 Iowans file unemployment claims last week

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — More than 16,700 Iowans filed unemployment claims last week in the wake of efforts to slow the spread of the new coronavirus.

A report released Thursday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Thursday showed 16,735 new claims filed between May 3 and May 9. That was drop from the previous week, when nearly 25,000 Iowans filed unemployment claims.

The new report came in the same week the state began to allow the reopening of some businesses that had been closed to limit the spread of COVID-19. A day before the report, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds announced that restaurants, salons, barber shops and gyms in Iowa will be allowed to reopen Friday.

Nationally, nearly 3 million laid-off workers applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, according to the Labor Department. Roughly 36 million people have now filed for jobless aid in the two months since the coronavirus first forced millions of businesses to close their doors and shrink their workforces.