For the fifth straight week, the number of new regular jobless claims dropped, according to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment Thursday.

There were 10,268 new unemployment claims filed for the week ending March 27, CDLE reported, marking an 11% dip from the previous week’s total. It’s the lowest weekly total of new regular claims filed in 2021.

In addition, contract and self-employed workers filed 1,747 new claims for the same week under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program.

The total number of new claims for payroll, self-employed and contract workers was 12,015 for the week ending March 27, a 9% drop from the 13,490 new claims filed the previous week.

Colorado unemployment rate unchanged in February

Colorado’s unemployment rate in February remained unchanged from January at 6.6%, even as the state eased COVID-19 pandemic restrictions on businesses early in the month.

Since mid-March 2020, about 1,152,970 claims have been filed, including payroll, contract and self-employed workers. The CDLE has paid out $8.47 billion in total claims during that time.