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In Washington 143,241 filed for unemployment insurance last week

This morning the state Employment Security Department reported that it received 82,435 new claims for unemployment insurance during the April 12 -April 18 week. This is a decrease of 60,806 from the 143,241 claims filed during the preceding week. The four-week moving average of initial claims is 144,429, down from 156,060 for the preceding week. […]

Nationwide, 4,427,000 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 4,427,000 last week. This is 810,000 less than the (downwardly revised) number of claims for the previous week, 5,237,000. The 4-week moving average of seasonally adjusted claims was 5,786,500, up […]

New federal aid bill would increase funding for small business loans, and Trump administration will add flexibility to funding for governments

Yesterday the U.S. Senate passed the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act. The U.S. House is expected to pass it tomorrow. The third coronavirus aid bill (CARES Act) included $349 billion for the paycheck protection program, which provided forgivable loans for small businesses. This funding ran out on April 16. The new bill […]

Downturn could mean a fiscal shock of $3.5 billion to $4.4 billion for Washington (plus, why the state should run its own stress tests as part of the budget process)

Moody’s Analytics has run a fiscal stress test “to gauge the potential fiscal shock that could be in store for states in the COVID-19 economy.” The test considers revenue shortfalls and increased Medicaid spending and finds that in the baseline scenario (in which business and travel restrictions are lifted in the second quarter of 2020), […]

Recapping last week

Initial claims for unemployment in Washington continue to be historically high, though last week’s report showed a reduction in initial claims from the previous week. Continued claims—the total number of people claiming unemployment benefits—were a record 435,891. This vastly outnumbers continued claims during the Great Recession, suggesting that this downturn could be worse. The overall […]

Allocations for Washington from federal aid bill

The third federal aid bill (the CARES Act) includes funding for various programs in the states. Federal agencies have begun to release information on the allocation amounts by state: Governor’s emergency education relief fund: The U.S. Department of Education has announced how this $3 billion fund will be allocated. Washington will receive $56.8 million. Elementary […]

Initial claims by sector

Here are charts presenting initial claims for unemployment insurance in Washington state by sector for the period from March 1 to April 11. 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; construction; health services and social […]

In Washington 143,241 filed for unemployment insurance last week

This morning the state Employment Security Department reported that it received 143,241 new claims for unemployment insurance during the April 5-April 11 week. This is a decrease of 26,822 from the 170,063 claims filed during the preceding week. The four-week moving average of initial claims is 156,060, up from 123,789 for the preceding week. We […]

Nationwide, 5,245,000 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 5,245,000 last week. This is 1,370,000 less than the (upwardly revised) number of claims for the previous week, 6,615,000. The 4-week moving average of seasonally adjusted claims was 5,508,500, up […]

State monthly employment report

The state Employment Security Department issued its Monthly Labor Report for March today. The period covered by this report (the pay period including March 12) was somewhat impacted by COVID-19. However, most of the pandemic’s impact on jobs came after this period, and hence the numbers reported today do not accurately reflect current labor market […]