Economy

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 […]

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 […]

Gov. Inslee to freeze hiring, personal services contracts, and equipment purchases; agencies asked to identify savings of $1.9 billion

Today Gov. Inslee directed state agencies to refrain from hiring, signing non-essential personal services contracts, and purchasing equipment. The freeze is effective May 18. (Some exceptions are noted in the directive.) It’s not clear how much the freeze is expected to save. The governor directed this freeze because “the State’s revenue situation warrants immediate fiscal […]

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 […]

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 […]