Employment Security Department
20-033

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – July 2, 2020

CONTACTS

Media inquiries: media@ESD.WA.GOV

Initial regular claims for unemployment benefits increase again from the previous week

OLYMPIA – During the week of June 21 through June 27, there were 31,911 initial regular unemployment claims (up 7.8% from the prior week) and 696,272 total claims for all unemployment benefit categories (down 3.1% from the prior week) filed by Washingtonians, according to the Employment Security Department (ESD).  

• Initial regular claims applications remain at unprecedented elevated levels and are at 473 percent above last year’s weekly new claims applications.
• Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) initial claims as well as continued/ongoing claims all declined over the previous week.

ESD paid out over $477.3 million for 394,910 individual claims – a decrease of $55.5 million and 15,942 less individual claims from the prior week.

Since the week ending March 7 when COVID-19 job losses began:

• A total of 2,143,073 initial claims have been filed during the pandemic (1,340,721 regular unemployment insurance, 431,002 PUA and 371,350 PEUC)
• A total of 1,200,639 distinct individuals have filed for unemployment benefits
• ESD has paid out over $6.7 billion in benefits
• 866,416 individuals who have filed an initial claim have been paid

“New unemployment claims, while down significantly from the peak of the crisis, remain at record-high levels,” said ESD Commissioner Suzi LeVine. “This is the second week in a row we’ve seen a slight increase in initial claims, indicating furloughs or layoffs in some sectors like accommodation & food services and retail. ESD is committed to helping eligible Washingtonians get unemployment benefits as quickly as possible and supporting both workers and employers as they navigate the changing workforce landscape. One example of how ESD can help is with the SharedWork program. This is a great option for employers looking to avoid layoffs or slowly ramp up re-hiring during this crisis. And, because it’s fully funded by federal funding as a result of the CARES Act, using it does not impact a business’ experience rating. I encourage employers who are struggling to learn more at esd.wa.gov/SharedWork.”

Below is a seventeen-week summary of statewide initial claims filed since the start of the COVID-19 crisis:

Weekly data breakdown

By industry

Industry sectors experiencing the highest number of initial claims during June 21- June 27 were:

• Accommodation and food services: 3,633 initial regular claims, up 221 (+7 percent) from previous week
• Health care and social assistance: 3,545 initial regular claims, up 99 (+3 percent) from the previous week
• Manufacturing: 3,303 regular initial claims, up 4 (0 percent) from the previous week
• Retail trade: 2,757 initial regular claims, up 396 (+17 percent) from previous week
• Construction: 2,632 initial regular claims, up 182 (+7 percent) from the previous week

By occupation

• Management occupations:  3,903 regular initial claims, up 465 (+14 percent) from the previous week
• Food preparation and serving: 3,452 regular initial claims, up 216 (+7 percent) from previous week
• Office and administrative support:  3,091 regular initial claims, up 93 (+3 percent) from previous week
• Construction and extraction occupations:  2,753 regular initial claims, up 21 (+1 percent) from the previous week
• Transportation and material moving occupations: 2,316 regular initial claims, up 211 (+10 percent) from the previous week
• Production occupations:  2,205 regular initial claims, up 34 (+2 percent) from the previous week

By county

King County, the most populous in the state saw initial regular claims increase from 8,752 to 9,179 during the week of June 21- June 27, up 5 percent from the week before.

Other counties with the largest number of initial claims during the week were:

• Pierce County: Initial regular claims filed increased from 3,702 to 3,950 up 7 percent from the week before.
• Snohomish County: Initial regular claims filed increased from 3,458 to 3,911 up 13 percent from the week before.
• Spokane County: Initial regular claims filed increased from 1,789 to 1,992 up 11 percent from the week before.
• Clark County: Initial regular claims filed increased from 1,336 to 1,357 up 2 percent from the week before.

Demographic breakdown – complete charts are provided in Appendix A below (This information is asked during the application process).

During the week of June 21- June 27:

• By gender: 49.9 percent (15,932) of the initial regular claims were filed by males while 49.7 percent (15,873) were filed by females
• By age group: 26.9 percent (8,573) of initial regular claims were filed by the 25-34 years old age group, followed by 21.2 percent (6,775) by the 35-44 years old age group and 17.6 percent (5,607) by the 45-54 years old age group.
• By education level: 30.1 percent (9,619) of initial regular claims were filed by individuals with a high school diploma, included GED, followed by 24.1 percent (7,688) with some college and 16.1% (5,153) with a bachelor’s degree.
• By race/ethnicity: 61.1 percent (19,496) of initial regular claims were filed by Caucasians, followed by 8.3 percent (2,641) filed by Asians, 5.9 percent filed by Latino/Hispanics (1,870) and 5.8 percent filed by Black/African Americans (1,838).
• By disability status: 2.7 percent (849) of initial regular claims were from individuals identified as having a disability, including 0.8 percent (246) who identified themselves as disabled veterans.
• By veteran’s status: 5.1 percent (1,615) of initial regular claims were filed by veterans, including 135 initial regular claims from individuals eligible for veterans benefits due to family relations with a veteran.

Please see new charts in the Appendix A below.  For complete information of weekly initial claims by industry sector and county for the year to date, also check the weekly unemployment initial claims charts compiled by ESD’s Labor Market & Economic Analysis division. For more information about specific counties, contact one of ESD’s regional local economists.

NOTE: ESD will send out the next weekly new claims press release on Thursday, July 9 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time.

Data disclaimer and definitions

Per U.S. Department of Labor regulations, weekly unemployment claims data is embargoed and not available for release until the Thursday following the claim week. 

Initial claims include individuals who filed first-time claims as well as additional claims filed by individuals as a result of a new unemployment event. Initial claims include claims that are still being reviewed for eligibility. Counts for initial claims are not indicative of the number of claims that will result in monetary compensation.

Continuing claims equal continued weeks claimed including a total of all weeks for which benefits were claimed, even though such benefits were not paid or payment status is uncertain or unknown, e.g., waiting weeks, partial weeks, weeks for which penalties are being served and weeks for which a monetary or nonmonetary issue is pending. 

Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) is an emergency program established by the federal CARES Act that temporarily expands unemployment insurance eligibility to self-employed workers, freelancers, independent contractors, and part-time workers impacted by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) is an emergency program established by the federal CARES Act that extends unemployment insurance for an extra 13 weeks to those who have exhausted their regular unemployment benefits.

Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) is an emergency program established by the CARES Act to increase unemployment benefits for Americans who are out of work because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under FPUC, eligible people who collect certain unemployment insurance benefits—including regular unemployment compensation—will get an extra $600 in federal benefits each week through July 31, 2020. They do not need to file a separate claim to receive this money, it is automatically added to their payment. [NOTE OF CLARIFICATION ADDED ON JULY 13: FPUC is not payable for any week of unemployment ending after July 31, 2020. Since a “week of unemployment” in Washington state ends on any Saturday, the last day to receive FPUC must be on a Saturday prior to the end date in the CARES Act. Accordingly, the last week that FPUC may be paid is the week ending July 25, 2020.]

COVID-19 resources

Washington state Employment Security Department unemployment insurance information for workers and employers

State of Washington’s coronavirus website

Washington state Department of Health public health resources

Labor market web links

• Labor market information website
• Historical data(Excel spreadsheet)
• Current claims data
• Historical claims data(Excel spreadsheets)

Appendix A

Initial regular claims by industry

Initial regular claims by occupation

Initial regular claims by county

Initial regular claims by gender

Initial regular claims by age group

Initial regular claims by race/ethnicity

Initial regular claims by veteran status

Initial regular claims by disability status

Initial regular claims by education level