Unemployment insurance claims increased by 12% to 17% in Los Angeles County after the Palisades and Eaton fires in January, according to a new report released by University of California researchers at the California Policy Lab on Monday, Aug. 25.

The fires claimed 31 lives and more than 16,000 structures were damaged, including nearly 2,000 business establishments.

The research, done in partnership with data from the California Employment Development Department (EDD), compared the increase in unemployment insurance claims to the previous year and nearby counties to determine how much these claims could be attributed to the fires.

“What the report tries to do is understand, in a bit more detail, how the effects of the fires rippled across workers in Los Angeles — understanding who

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