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Fraudsters attack state unemployment insurance system

Employment Security Department Commissioner Suzi LeVine today reported that the state unemployment insurance system has suffered a rash of fraudulent claims” Since the start of May – and particularly in the past week – the Employment Security Department has seen a significant rise in reports of impostor fraud. This is where bad actors have stolen […]

In Washington 212,962 filed 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 212,962 initial claims for unemployment insurance during the May 3–May 9 week. Of this total, 109,425 initial claims were under the regular unemployment insurance program; 55,911 claims were under the federal pandemic unemployment assistance […]

Nationwide, 2,981,000 filed for unemployment insurance last week

The U.S. Department of Labor issued its weekly report on initial claims for unemployment insurance this morning. Nationwide, the number of seasonally adjusted claims was 2,981,000 last week. This is 195,000 less than the (upwardly revised) number of claims for the previous week, 3,176,00. The 4-week moving average of seasonally adjusted claims was 3,616,500, down […]

Washington has $9.2 million left of state funds appropriated for COVID-19 response

The Office of Financial Management (OFM) has allocated $21.9 million to the University of Washington from the funds appropriated by the Legislature for response to COVID-19. This round of funds will go to UW Medicine “to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.” (In the first round of distributions on March 18, UW received $10.0 million for […]

88,570 paycheck protection loans have been approved for Washington businesses, and could more local news organizations become eligible?

Updated data from the Small Business Administration (SBA) shows that Washington businesses received $12.354 billion in loans through May 8 under the paycheck protection program. From May 1 to May 8, the number of loans to Washington businesses increased by 7,861 and their amounts increased by $352.7 million. As of May 8, the program has […]

Recapping last week: Jobs, UI, state budget, federal relief

Nationally, 20.5 million jobs were lost in April, according to the U.S. Department of Labor on Friday. For an arresting, grim picture of how this figure compares to history, check out the Saturday New York Times front page. (The underlying charts are from this story.) The national unemployment rate in April was 14.7 percent. The […]

80,709 paycheck protection program loans have been approved for Washington businesses

The federal CARES Act included $349 billion for forgivable paycheck protection loans for businesses with fewer than 500 employees. That funding ran out on April 16, after 1.7 million loans had been made nationwide. A subsequent federal aid bill added $310 billion to the program. The Small Business Administration has released data on the approved […]

Initial claims by sector

Here are three charts presenting initial claims for unemployment insurance in Washington state by sector for the period from March 1 to May 2. The first chart shows the number of claims by sector. The five sectors with the greatest number of claims are, in descending order, accommodation and food services; health services and social […]

In Washington 200,263 filed 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 200,263 initial claims for unemployment insurance during the April 26–May 2 week. Of this total, 100,762 initial claims were under the regular unemployment insurance program; 59,234 claims were under the federal pandemic unemployment assistance […]

Nationwide, 3,169,000 filed for unemployment insurance last week

The U.S. Department of Labor issued its weekly report on initial claims for unemployment insurance this morning. Nationwide, the number of seasonally adjusted claims was 3,169,000 last week. This is 677,000 less than the (downwardly revised) number of claims for the previous week, 3,846,000. The 4-week moving average of seasonally adjusted claims was 4,173,500, up […]