briefs for Friday

New jobless claims in Idaho increased in the week ending June 27, rising 26% from a week prior, the Idaho Department of Labor said Thursday.

Laid-off workers in Idaho filed 5,417 new claims last week, the department said.

Health care and social assistance, retail, accommodation and food services, and manufacturing, accounted for 56% of new claims filed last week.

Laid-off Idaho workers have 162,560 initial claims for unemployment benefits since March. The state has paid more than $567 million in benefits related to coronavirus-related layoffs, the labor department said.

Alaska Airlines secures $1.2B

Alaska Airlines has secured nearly $1.2 billion in private loans to further secure its financial stability.

The debt financing will be funded on or around Thursday. The company will use 61 of its owned aircraft as collateral to back the debt.

McGee Air Services, a wholly owned ground services subsidiary of Alaska Airlines that operates independently, has also received nearly $30 million in funding.

This is in addition to the $992 million in the form of a $725 million grant and a $267 million loan that Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air jointly received to be exclusively used to pay employee salaries, wages and benefits through Sept. 30.

From staff and wire reports