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Initial claims by sector

Here are three charts presentinginitial claims for unemployment insurance reported by Washington state’s Employment Security Department (ESD) by sector for the period from March 1 to May 16. A note of caution about these numbers: In recent weeks, Washington’s unemployment insurance system has been hit by a rash of fraudulent claims (press releases here and […]

In Washington 259,688 filed initial claims for 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 259,688 initial claims for unemployment insurance during the May 10–May 16 week. Of this total, 138,733 initial claims were under the regular unemployment insurance program; 61,325 claims were under the federal pandemic unemployment assistance […]

Monthly Employment Report

The state Employment Security Department released its Monthly Employment Report for April this morning. According to preliminary estimates from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the state lost 527,000 jobs, net, seasonally adjusted (SA), from March to April. This estimate is based on BLS’s monthly survey of employers, which counts as employed all persons […]

More state COVID-19 response funds distributed

Just $4.2 million remain of the state funds appropriated for COVID-19 response in EHB 2965. Yesterday the Office of Financial Management announced that $5.0 million will go to the Department of Commerce for distribution to the 29 federally recognized tribes in Washington. Each tribe will get at least $100,000. (The tribes previously received another $5.0 […]

Washington will not use Fed’s municipal lending facility

Under the CARES Act (one of the federal coronavirus relief bills), the Federal Reserve has $500 billion with which to buy short term notes from states and certain local governments (“eligible issuers”). This municipal lending facility (MLF) is meant to help these governments “better manage cash flow pressures.” (The Fed reports that, as of May […]

Recapping last week: Collections report, UI, federal relief

State general fund revenues are $434.6 million (22.5 percent) less than forecast in February, according to the May collections report. About $200 million of this drop is due to deferrals of tax payments, which are expected to be collected before July. This is the first revenue data we have that includes effects of the downturn. […]

May report of state tax collections

The state’s Economic and Revenue Forecast Council (ERFC) released its May report on state general fund revenue collections today. This is the first collections report to show the effect of COVID-19 on state revenues. For the sales tax, the use tax, the business and occupation tax, the public utility tax, the tobacco products tax, and […]

Initial claims by sector

Here are three charts presentinginitial claims for unemployment insurance reported by Washington state’s Employment Security Department (ESD) by sector for the period from March 1 to May 9. A note of caution about these numbers: In recent weeks, Washington’s unemployment insurance system has been hit by a rash of fraudulent claims (press release here). As […]

Could Washington’s cities lose 32.7 percent of 2020 revenue?

The National League of Cities (NLC) estimates that cities across the country could lose $134 billion (21.6 percent) in revenues this year due to the downturn. According to the paper, Washington’s cities could lose 32.7 percent of revenues—the sixth highest revenue loss in the country. These estimates are based on unemployment projections, not tax collections […]

Preliminary revenue loss estimates for King County, and how will the county use its federal aid funds?

At a committee meeting May 5, the King County Council heard about potential revenue losses over the next few years. Dwight Dively of the Office of Performance, Strategy and Budget said that an interim revenue forecast expects that over three years (through 2022), King County’s sales tax revenues will decline by $79 million for the […]