During the week of January 10-16, there were 19,212 initial regular unemployment claims (down 29.2 percent from the prior week) and 468,801 total claims for all unemployment benefit categories (down 9.1 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 114 percent above last year’s weekly new claims applications.
- Initial claims for regular unemployment, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), and continued/ongoing claims for regular benefits all decreased over the week.
- Reductions in seasonal layoffs in construction drove a decrease in new regular jobless claims last week. Regular initial claims in the construction sector decreased by 838 over the week to 2,361 total regular initial claims. Reduction in layoffs from the Administration and Support industry sector also contributed to the decrease in regular initial claims over the week with initial claims in this sector decreasing by 526 initial claims over the week.
In the week ending January 16, ESD paid out over $320 million for 336,817 individual claims. Since the crisis began in March, ESD has paid more than $13.8 billion in benefits to over a million Washingtonians.
| Unemployment claim type | Week ofJanuary 10- January 16 | Week ofJanuary 3- January 9 | Week ofDecember 27-January 2 |
| Regular Unemployment Insurance (UI) initial claims | 19,212 | 27,147 | 29,651 |
| Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) initial claims | 4,482 | 5,220 | 5,818 |
| Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) initial claims | 8,082 | 9,580 | 42,595 |
| Continued/ongoing weekly claims | 437,025 | 473,614 | 479,355 |
| Total claims | 468,801 | 515,561 | 557,419 |
Note: Detailed claims data and charts by county, industry and occupation will be included in this release on a monthly basis. You can find detailed claims data anytime on the ESD website.