With 11,432 new unemployment claims filed as of Jan. 23, the downward trend of new claims continues, according to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.

That number marks an 11% drop from the estimated 12,881 new regular claims filed for the week ending Jan. 16.

The numbers are estimated because the CDLE’s new cloud-based processing technology’s combination of two previous systems left gaps in reporting.

But if the estimate is correct, it marks a drop for three weeks in 2021 for new claims. There were 14,123 filed for the week ending Jan. 9. Coming into the year, there were 25,178 claims for the week ending Jan. 2.

The new distribution system MyUI+’s cloud technology, installed by vendor Deloitte, went live Jan. 10.

It combines both systems the CDLE used in 2020: The old mainframe legacy system MyUI and the new system modified in April to handle PUA and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation claims for contract and gig workers.

There were no new PUA claims, as the new system still need to be programmed to handle those.

CDLE officials are also attempting to strip out all fraudulent claims from the reporting data.

And there have been many.

For example, the Jan. 2 numbers were initially reported at 41,439. That means 16,261 fraudulent claims were filed that week. No estimates were provided of fraudulent claims for subsequent weeks.

The new distribution system’s technology will help streamline the process and reduce those fraudulent claims, officials said.