The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment announced Thursday that regular unemployment claims are below 6,000 for the second week in a row.

The CDLE reported 5,974 regular initial unemployment claims and 2,216 Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claims for the week ending on Sept. 5. In the previous week ending on Aug. 29, 3,253 PUA claims were reported.

Since mid-March, a total of 548,593 regular unemployment initial claims and 156,589 PUA claims have been filed.

A WalletHub study assessing U.S. unemployment recovery found that Colorado jumped to 22nd place for recovery from this last week, compared to its 37th overall ranking.

The CDLE also announced a major crackdown on unemployment fraud, implementing 18 fraud detection triggers for PUA claims. After removing fraudulent claims from weekly totals, CDLE said the claim totals for the weeks of July 18 to Aug. 22 decreased from 62,498 to 14,292.

The new measures have prevented an estimated $750 million to $1 billion in fraudulent unemployment payments, CDLE said.

The CDLE has paid over $4.8 billion in unemployment benefits since March 29, according to the department. That includes regular unemployment benefits, PUA claims, Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation and State Extended Benefits.

Workers from accommodation and food services accounted for 12.3% of initial unemployment claims for the week ending on Aug. 22. Retail workers made up 10.6% of claims and healthcare and social assistance workers made up 10.1%.