Disclaimer: The information on this dashboard is a snapshot in time. Data changes we approve or deny pending claims. We update this data every quarter, usually by the 20th day of the month after the quarter ends. For example, we usually update date for quarter 1 (January 1 through March 31), by April 20.
Find more information below the chart.
Page 1: Unique individuals filing claims
Total number of individuals filing unemployment claims per month. Claims include:
- All unemployment claims for regular unemployment benefits.
- Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA).
- Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC).
- Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC).
Page 2: Unique claims filed by month
Status and number of unique weekly claims filed by month. Claimants file claims each week, certifying they are eligible for benefits. We evaluate these weekly claims.
If we find that a claimant is eligible for benefits, we will issue a payment for that week. Claimants can file claims for more than one program so the number of claims may be higher than the number of individuals filing.
We only pay claimants for programs they are eligible for. We don't pay pending claims until we decide if the claimant is eligible.
Page 3: Benefits paid
Total amount of benefits paid from all unemployment insurance programs including state-funded regular unemployment benefits and federally funded PUA, PEUC and FPUC.
Page 4: Appeals by status
Claimants and employers can appeal our decisions to allow or deny benefits. The chart shows the number of appeal requests we received in that month and the status of the requests at the time we published the data. Statuses include:
No action taken
We closed this item for one of the following reasons:
- The request is a duplicate.
- The request is moot because we have already granted it.
- The claimant is not an aggrieved party.
Pending
The number of appeal requests we have received and are reviewing whether we should either:
- Transmit the appeal request to the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH).
- Redetermine (change) our original decision.
Redetermined
We have reviewed this decision and decided to award benefits based on new information.
Sent to OAH
We have sent a formal request for an appeal hearing to OAH. This happens after we review the appeal and determine that:
- The denial still stands.
- We did not grant any of the relief in the appeal and therefore the claimant is an aggrieved party.
Page 5: Claimant call center statistics
The Unemployment Claims Center tracks multiple data points related to customer calls. Call statuses include:
Answered
The number of calls agents answered from the following claim center units: Intake, Adjudication and SecureAccess Washington (SAW) Portal Help Desk.
Abandoned
The number of calls that customers abandoned (hung up) before an agent answered from the following claim center units: Intake, Adjudication and SAW Portal Help Desk.
High call volume messages
Number of calls (not individual customers) that receive the high-call volume message. These calls don't go into the queue. We ask them to call back later because of the high number of calls. Because one person may make many repeat calls, the count of high-volume messages is higher than the number of individuals seeking assistance.
Page 6: Employer call center statistics
Answered
The number of calls from the Account Management Center (AMC) queue that an agent answered. This queue supports employers with tax related issues.
Abandoned
The number of calls that customers abandoned (hung up) before an agent answered from the AMC queue.
Page 7: Seasonally adjusted unemployment rate
Unemployment rate for Washington state by month.
Page 8: Unemployment recipiency rate
The unemployment benefits recipiency rate is the number of individuals receiving unemployment compensation divided by the total number people who are unemployed. This data comes from the monthly, seasonally-adjusted, local-area unemployment statistics federal Bureau of Labor Statistics survey gathers.
Unemployment compensation includes state unemployment compensation, unemployment compensation for federal employees and unemployment compensation for ex-service members. The recipiency rate does not include claimants who are receiving federally funded benefits.
Page 9: Overpayments established by benefits entitlement
An overpayment someone received when they were not entitled to it. This is because they either were not eligible or we paid them an incorrect weekly benefit amount.
Page 10: Overpayment waiver requests and outcomes
We may waive overpayments if a claimant meets all three of the following conditions:
- The claimant was not at fault for creating the overpayment.
- We did not say the payment was "conditional" while we determined eligibility.
- Collecting the overpayment would create a financial hardship.
If you may be eligible for a waiver, we will send you a waiver request form. The form requests financial information that we use to determine if you're eligible for a waiver. After we receive your completed form, we review it to determine if you're eligible for a waiver.
Overpayments from the pandemic-era are being reviewed with expanded waiver guidelines.
Page 11: Adjudication timeliness and quality
Timeliness is calculated for separation issues (quits and discharges from employment) and for all other non-separation issues that could potentially prevent benefit payments.
The United States Department of Labor (USDOL) Benefit Timeliness and Quality program estimates the overall quality of adjudication by reviewing a statistically representative sample of unemployment benefit eligibility determinations against 100-point scoring criteria.
Programs and assistance we have offered in the past
We sometimes offer assistance in addition to unemployment benefits. This usually happens when either the president or the governor declares an emergency.
Assistance we offered during the COVID-19 pandemic
All COVID-19 programs, including PUA, PEUC, FPUC, have expired. We are not backdating new pandemic-related claims.
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) was an emergency program established by the federal government that temporarily expanded unemployment insurance eligibility to self-employed workers, freelancers, independent contractors, and other workers impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation
The federal government established Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC). It was an emergency program that extended unemployment benefits for those who exhausted their regular unemployment benefits.
Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation
Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) was an emergency program established by the federal government that added an additional $300 per week in benefits to most claimants.