First-time unemployment claims filed with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment edged higher last week as claims by self-employed and contract workers surged.

The 13,490 claims filed during the week of March 20 by payroll, self-employed and contract workers were up 2.9% from the previous week and the highest weekly total since the week ended Feb. 27. Claims by payroll workers during the same period fell less than 1% to 11,568, while claims from self-employed and contract workers under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program jumped 30.5% to 1,922.

Since mid-March 2020, the department has received 881,161 claims from payroll workers and 259,794 claims from self-employed and contract workers for an overall total of 1,140,955.

The department also reported the number of continuing unemployment claims for the week ended March 13 fell 4.8% from the previous week to  245,481.