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4/29/2020Read More...
Commissioner LeVine shares important information about returning to work as employers seek to bring back their staff
OLYMPIA – Employment Security Department Commissioner, Suzi LeVine, released the following statement on Tuesday:
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4/23/2020Read More...
Nearly $1.4B in unemployment benefits paid out by ESD to Washingtonians since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis
Late on Saturday, April 18, the Employment Security Department updated their unemployment system to enable several provisions of the federal CARES act: expanding eligibility for unemployment benefits to those previously ineligible such as independent contractors, self-employed workers, and those with fewer than 680 hours; increasing weekly unemployment benefits by $600; and extending benefits by 13 weeks.
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4/23/2020Read More...
Initial unemployment insurance claims for week of April 12-18, 2020
During the week of April 12-18, there were 82,435 initial and 605,514 total claims for unemployment benefits, according to the Employment Security Department (ESD). While initial claims declined 42 percent from the previous week, the total claims continued to grow.
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4/20/2020Read More...
The Washington State Employment Security Department processed a record number of applications for unemployment benefits but had challenges with the volume
OLYMPIA - With the launch of new benefits Saturday night, the Employment Security Department received more applications (including expanded, extended and traditional benefits) in a single day than the biggest week on record, which was 182,000 applications in the week ending 3/28. For comparison, the 182,000 applications in a week was already seven times the peak week for the 2008/2009 recession.
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4/19/2020Read More...
Statement regarding the launch of expanded benefits
Saturday night, April 18, the Employment Security Department launched a massive update of its systems to allow for the expansion of unemployment benefits enabled by the Federal CARES Act. Tens of thousands of people have already filed successfully, and thousands continue to do so every hour.
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4/16/2020Read More...
Initial unemployment insurance claims for week of April 5-11, 2020
During the week of April 5-11, 143,241 Washingtonians applied for unemployment benefits, according to the Employment Security Department (ESD). While this is a decrease of 26,822 initial claims from the previous week, it’s the third highest weekly number on record and five times more claims than the peak week during the Great Recession.
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4/15/2020Read More...
Monthly Employment Report for March 2020
OLYMPIA – Washington’s economy lost 11,100 jobs in March and the state’s preliminary seasonally adjusted monthly unemployment rate for March increased from 3.8 percent to 5.1 percent according to the Employment Security Department (ESD).
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4/9/2020Read More...
Initial unemployment insurance claims for week of March 29 – April 4, 2020
Initial claims for unemployment benefits remained at historical highs for the week of March 29-April 4, with over 170,063 initial claims filed during the week, according to the Employment Security Department (ESD). Although this was a 6.5 percent decrease over the previous week, the number of initial claims filed was a 2,627 percent increase year over year and seven times more than the peak week during the 2008/2009 recession which saw 26,075 weekly initial claims.