Weekly UI Report Regular weekly UI claims in Vermont last week decreased by 13 to 990 (up 544 from the same time last year, which was before the pandemic hit). Claims had fallen for five consecutive weeks before jumping up again two weeks ago. As for ongoing jobless claims, for the week ending February 20, 2021, the Labor Department processed 13,185 claims, up 95 from the previous week and 7,520 more than the same time last year. As for further comparison, initial Vermont claims for the week of March 21, 2020 (the first full week of the pandemic in Vermont), were 3,784, up 3,125 from the week of March 14. Labor Commissioner Harrington has said at Governor Scott's media briefings that the new federal stimulus and unemployment money will help Vermonters, even though the unemployment rate is on paper at the same level as it was just before the pandemic led to historic unemployment levels.