Blog

Rental assistance funding in Gov. Inslee’s budget proposals and federal relief bills

The new federal relief bill appropriates $25 billion for emergency rental assistance. It will be distributed to states and local governments using the same methodology as the Coronavirus Relief Fund (except local governments will get direct federal allocations if their populations exceed 200,000 instead of 500,000). It’s not clear how much Washington will receive, but […]

Washington will use federal CARES Act funds to provide “pandemic relief payments” in response to the lapse in federal unemployment insurance benefits

Earlier this month, Gov. Inslee announced that Washington would use $54.6 million of the state’s share of the federal Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) for unemployment insurance benefits for people in the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, if the federal government didn’t act to extend the program before it was set to expire on Dec. […]

Update on personal income, consumer spending and saving rates during the Covid-19 recession

Here are updates of two charts I have previously posted regarding income and consumer spending during the Covid-19 recession, including new numbers for November and revisions to numbers for prior months. Both personal income and personal consumption expenditures were down nationally in November compared to October. On the first chart, the stacked columns show estimated […]

In Washington 17,596 filed initial claims for regular unemployment insurance last week

This morning the state Employment Security Department (ESD) gave its weekly report on unemployment insurance claims. ESD reported a total of 34,742 initial claims for unemployment insurance during the week ending December 19. Of this total, 17,596 initial claims were under the regular state unemployment insurance program; 3,711 claims were under the federal pandemic unemployment […]

New federal coronavirus aid bill extends the time states have to spend coronavirus relief fund money

Congress has passed new COVID-19 aid, as part of the FY 2021 appropriation bill. The COVID-19 aid portion appropriates $900 billion. The hold-up in getting a new relief package has been disagreements over whether to include liability protections for businesses and funding for state and local governments. In the end, neither policy was included. However, […]

In Washington 19,547 filed initial claims for regular unemployment insurance last week

This morning the state Employment Security Department (ESD) gave its weekly report on unemployment insurance claims. ESD reported a total of 36,382 initial claims for unemployment insurance during the week ending December 12. Of this total, 19,547 initial claims were under the regular state unemployment insurance program; 4,061 claims were under the federal pandemic unemployment […]

Nationwide, 885,000 filed for unemployment insurance last week

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued its weekly report on initial claims for unemployment insurance this morning. Nationwide, the number of seasonally adjusted claims was 885,000 last week. This is up from the (upwardly revised) number of claims for the previous week, 862,000. The 4-week moving average of seasonally adjusted claims was 812,500, up […]

Gov. Inslee’s climate package would cap greenhouse gas emissions, implement a clean fuel standard, and partially fund the working families tax credit

Yesterday, Gov. Inslee announced a package of climate proposals, as part of his 2021-23 budget proposals. (On Monday he announced $365 million for an equity policy package.) His climate proposal includes: A cap on greenhouse gas emissions, with revenues from selling emission allowances going to a new climate investment account. “Funds from the account would […]

The governor plans to allocate another $50 million for business grants, plus $55 million for unemployment benefits (if Congress fails to act)

On Tuesday, Gov. Inslee announced that an additional $50 million will be allocated for Working Washington grants for businesses. This is on top of the $50 million for these grants that was announced in November. The governor didn’t specify where this funding is coming from, but it sounds like it will come out of the […]

In Washington 24,587 filed initial claims for regular unemployment insurance last week

This morning the state Employment Security Department (ESD) gave its weekly report on unemployment insurance claims. ESD reported a total of 39,389 initial claims for unemployment insurance during the week ending December 5. Of this total, 24,587 initial claims were under the regular state unemployment insurance program; 3,759 claims were under the federal pandemic unemployment […]