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 assistance program, which covers self-employed persons, independent contractors and part-time workers; and 11,043 claims were under the federal pandemic unemployment compensation program, which extends the maximum term of benefits from 26 weeks to 39 weeks.

The number of new claims for regular unemployment insurance is an increase of 2,253 from the number of claims filed during the preceding week. ESD notes:

Increases in regular initial claims over the week occurred across most industry sectors with the largest increases over the week occurring in the Health Care and Social Assistance (+587) and Construction (+561) industry sectors. Increases in construction industry claims are expected this time of year. The increases from within the HealthCare and Social Assistance sector came primarily from child day care services, services for the elderly and persons with disabilities, and from general medical and surgical hospitals.

The four-week moving average of regular initial claims is 23,508, down 154 from the preceding week. I estimate that the seasonally adjusted 4-week average of regular initial claims was 18,828, down from 19,310 (revised) the preceding week.

The number of initial claims under the two pandemic programs is an increase of 4,418 from the number filed during the preceding week.

Note: In May, Washington’s unemployment insurance system was hit by a rash of fraudulent claims. Most of these false claims were filed between May 1 and May 16, which coincides with the second, lower peak during the current recession.

ESD reports that continuing claims for unemployment insurance totaled 453,144 in the most recent week. This is an increase of 26,181 from the number reported for the preceding week.

The ESD press release is here.