Employment Security Department
20-055

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Oct. 8, 2020

CONTACTS

Media inquiries: media@ESD.WA.GOV

Initial regular unemployment and continued claims decreased during week of September 27 – October 3

OLYMPIA – During the week of September 27 through October 3, there were 15,496 initial regular unemployment claims (down 12.6 percent from the prior week) and 506,708 total claims for all unemployment benefit categories (down 4.5 percent from the prior week) filed by Washingtonians, according to the Employment Security Department (ESD).  

• Initial regular claims applications remain at elevated levels and are at 157 percent above last year’s weekly new claims applications.
• Initial claims applications for regular Unemployment Insurance, continued claims for regular Unemployment Insurance and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) initial claims all decreased over the week while Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) initial claims increased.

In the week ending October 3, ESD paid out over $162 million for 328,216 individual claims. More than $11.4 billion has been paid in benefits to 1,048,043 individuals since the COVID-19 crisis began in March.

For more information on current claimants and claims processing progress, please go to the benefits data dashboard on the ESD website.

Below is a thirty-one-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 September 27- October 3 were:

• Accommodation and food services: 1,824 initial regular claims, down 302 (-14 percent) from previous week
• Construction: 1,644 initial regular claims, down 824 (-33 percent) from the previous week
• Retail trade: 1,297 regular initial claims, down 164 (-11 percent) from the previous week
• Health care and social assistance: 1,293 initial regular claims, down 116 (-8 percent) from the previous week
• Manufacturing: 1,077 initial regular claims, down 154 (-13 percent) from previous week

By occupation

• Food preparation and serving: 1,901 regular initial claims, down 325 (-15 percent) from previous week
• Management occupations:  1,817 regular initial claims, down 110 (-6 percent) from the previous week
• Construction and extraction occupations:  1,809 regular initial claims, down 925 (-34 percent) from the previous week
• Office and administrative support occupations:  1,356 regular initial claims, down 145 (-10 percent) from the previous week
• Transportation and material moving occupations:  1,222 regular initial claims, down 91 (-9 percent) from previous week

By county

King County, the most populous county in the state, saw initial regular claims decrease from 4,527 to 4,113 during the week of September 27 – October 3, down 9 percent from the week before.

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

• Pierce County: Initial regular claims filed decreased from 2,151 to 1,869 down 13 percent from the week before.
• Snohomish County: Initial regular claims filed decreased from 1,881 to 1,662 down 12 percent from the week before.
• Spokane County: Initial regular claims filed decreased from 1,056 to 854 down 19 percent from the week before.
• Clark County: Initial regular claims filed decreased from 1,149 to 821 down 29 percent from the week before.

SharedWork

For employers looking to avoid layoffs or slowly ramp up re-hiring during this crisis, SharedWork is a great program that can help. You can learn more at esd.wa.gov/SharedWork

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, October 15, 2020 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.

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)
• Historical claims data(Excel spreadsheets)

Appendix A

Initial regular claims by industry sector

Initial regular claims by County

Initial regular claims by occupation