Employment Security Department
#20-062

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Oct. 29, 2020
Email media inquiries:  media@esd.wa.gov  

Initial regular unemployment and continued claims decreased during week of October 18 - 24

OLYMPIA – During the week of October 18 - 24, there were 14,198 initial regular unemployment claims (down 15.9 percent from the prior week) and 475,441 total claims for all unemployment benefit categories (down 3.2 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 128 percent above last year’s weekly new claims applications.
• Initial regular initial claims, regular continued claims, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) initial claims and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) initial claims all decreased over the week.

In the week ending October 24, ESD paid out over $145 million for 307,548 individual claims. Since the crisis began in March, ESD has paid more than $11.9 billion in benefits to over a million Washingtonians.

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

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

Below is a thirty-four 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 October 18- 24 were:

• Construction: 1,756 initial regular claims, down 170 (-9 percent) from the previous week
• Accommodation and food services: 1,532 initial regular claims, down 186 (-11 percent) from previous week
• Health care and social assistance: 1,207 initial regular claims, down 124 (-9 percent) from the previous week
• Retail trade: 1,135 regular initial claims, down 89 (-7 percent) from the previous week
• Manufacturing: 989 initial regular claims, down 360 (-27 percent) from previous week

By occupation

• Construction and extraction occupations:  2,011 regular initial claims, down 171 (-8 percent) from the previous week
• Management occupations:  1,641 regular initial claims, down 253 (-13 percent) from the previous week
• Food preparation and serving: 1,563 regular initial claims, down 169 (-10 percent) from previous week
• Office and administrative support occupations:  1,174 regular initial claims, down 173 (-13 percent) from the previous week
• Transportation and material moving occupations:  1,064 regular initial claims, down 351 (-25 percent) from previous week

By county

King County, the most populous county in the state, saw initial regular claims decrease from 4,367 to 3,552 during the week of October 18- October 24, down 19 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 2,200 to 1,755 down 20 percent from the week before.
• Snohomish County: Initial regular claims filed decreased from 1,725 to 1,558 down 10 percent from the week before.
• Spokane County: Initial regular claims filed decreased from 962 to 908 down 6 percent from the week before.
• Clark County: Initial regular claims filed decreased from 805 to 656 down 19 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.

ESD will send out the next weekly new claims press release on Thursday, November 5, 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 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 CARES Act that extends unemployment insurance for an extra 13 weeks to those who have exhausted their benefits.

Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) is an emergency program established by the CARES Act to increase unemployment benefits for Americans who are out of work because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under FPUC, eligible people who collect certain unemployment insurance benefits—including regular unemployment compensation—will get an extra $600 in federal benefits each week through the week ending July 25, 2020. 

Web links

COVID-19 resources

• Washington state Employment Security Department unemployment insurance information for workers and employers
• Governor’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

Initial regular claims by county

Initial regular claims by occupation