A press release from Washington State Employment Security Department.
During the week of September 26 to October 2, there were 4,814 initial regular unemployment claims, down 2.0 percent from the prior week. Total claims filed by Washingtonians for all unemployment benefit categories numbered 86,615 down 10.8 percent from the prior week.
- Initial regular claims applications are 69 percent below weekly new claims applications for the same period last year during the pandemic.
- The 4-week moving average for regular initial claims was 4,860, a decrease of 98 from the previous week’s 4-week moving average. During the same time in 2019, it was 5,488.
- Decreases in layoffs in accommodation and food services and retail trade contributed to a decrease of 100 regular initial claims over the previous week.
- Although federal benefit programs, including Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) as well as the additional $300 per week for most claimants, expired the week ending Sept. 4, 2021, benefits will continue to be paid after Sept. 4, 2021 for individuals whose claims are pending in adjudication or on appeal if they are determined to be eligible for payment. Learn more at esd.wa.gov/covid-19.
In the week ending October 2, the Employment Security Department (ESD) paid out over $35 million for 35,580 individual claims. Since the crisis began in March 2020, ESD has paid more than $21.4 billion in benefits to over 1.2 million Washingtonians.
NOTE: After Oct. 7, ESD will no longer be sending a weekly press release of unemployment data. Information will be available on our website and shared in a release on a monthly basis. ESD will send out the first monthly release for the month of October on Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021 at 10a.m. Pacific Time.
| Unemployment claim type | Sep. 26- Oct. 2 | Sep. 19-25 | Sep. 12-18 |
| Regular Unemployment Insurance (UI) initial claims | 4,814 | 4,914 | 4,850 |
| Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) initial claims | 724 | 840 | 1,122 |
| Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) initial claims | 375 | 378 | 524 |
| Continued or ongoing weekly claims | 80,702 | 90,936 | 106,452 |
| Total claims | 86,615 | 97,068 | 112,948 |
Note: You can find detailed claims data anytime on the ESD website.
