First-time unemployment claims filed in Colorado last week surged to a two-month high, fueled by filings from self-employed, independent contractors and “gig” workers, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment reported Thursday.

Here are the numbers:

• Claims from payroll workers fell 7.1% to 6,450 in the week ended Aug. 22, resuming a decline that began in early June. Claims from self-employed and similar workers increased 39% to 16,417. Claims were 22,867, the most since the week ending June 13.

Since March 29, when widespread business closures occurred under the state’s stay-at-home order aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus, the state has received 536,782 claims from payroll workers and nearly 200,000 from self-employed and other workers for a total of 736,108.

Jeff Fitzgerald, who heads the agency’s unemployment insurance division, said several factors could be pushing claims by self-employed and other similar workers higher.

Those factors include expiration of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program, parents being unable to work because they don’t have care available for children in school online, and a wave of fraudulent claims sweeping the nation.

• The agency paid out $67.2 million in benefits to payroll workers last week, the fewest in more than four months. Payments to self-employed and other similar workers as well as extended benefits once traditional unemployment benefit eligibility has expired are paid by the federal government.

Colorado has paid out nearly $4.7 billion in unemployment benefits of all types since March 29 and started borrowing from the federal government last week to continue those payments — that borrowing totaled $78 million through Tuesday.