Initial claims by sector
Here are three charts showing initial claims for unemployment insurance in Washington state by sector for the period from March 1 to April 25. 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 496,718 filed for unemployment insurance last week
This morning the state Employment Security Department (ESD) gave its weekly report on unemployment insurance claims. This is the first report to include claims under the special federal programs related to the COVID–19 pandemic. ESD reported a total of 496,718 initial claims for unemployment insurance during the April 19–April 25 week. Of this total, 137,605 […]
Nationwide, 3,839,000 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 3,839,000 last week. This is 603,000 less than the (downwardly revised) number of claims for the previous week, 4,442,000. The 4-week moving average of seasonally adjusted claims was 5,033,250, up […]
28th of April 2020
Food supply worries and hopes
Bloomberg reports, President Donald Trump plans to order meat-processing plants to remain open as the nation confronts growing food-supply disruptions from the coronavirus outbreak, a person familiar with the matter said. Trump plans to use the Defense Production Act to order the companies to stay open as critical infrastructure, and the government will provide additional […]
Washington will give $300 million of federal relief funds to localities (and other federal allocations have been announced)
The CARES Act provided $2.953 billion for Washington and the counties and cities in our state that have populations over 500,000. (The table provides an estimate of how the funds will be allocated.) The funds must be used for new spending related to COVID-19 response. (Treasury has allowed some flexibility in the use of the […]
27th of April 2020
Recapping last week: UI, federal aid, construction
Although initial unemployment insurance (UI) claims for the week of April 12–18 dropped in last week’s report from the Employment Security Department (ESD), they were still the fifth-highest in state history. Continuing claims increased to 523,126. Since March 1, arts, entertainment and recreation; construction; and accommodation and food services are still the sectors with the […]
23rd of April 2020
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 18. 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 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. […]
Of funds appropriated by Washington for COVID-19 response, $46.6 million left
In March the Legislature appropriated $200 million from the rainy day fund for COVID-19 response. Of that, $175 million was appropriated to the disaster response account (DRA). (The rest went to a new unemployment account.) The bill specified that the Office of Financial Management (OFM) will use the $175 million plus $25 million from the […]
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 […]