Evergreen Reporter

U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-2) issued the following announcement on July 23

During the week of July 12 through July 18, there were 29,438 initial regular unemployment claims (down 27.3% from the prior week) and 673,444 total claims for all unemployment benefit categories (down 4.7% from the prior week) filed by Washingtonians, according to the Employment Security Department (ESD).  

• Initial regular claims applications remain at unprecedented elevated levels and are at 536 percent above last year’s weekly new claims applications.
• Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) initial claims as well as continued/ongoing claims all decreased over the previous week.

ESD paid out over $493.6 million for 430,737 individual claims – an increase of $4.8 million and 7,193 more individuals compared to the prior week.

Unemployment claim type	Week of July 12-July 18	Week of July 5-July 11	Week of June 28-July 4
Regular Unemployment Insurance (UI) initial claims	29,438	40,466	28,393
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) initial claims	6,827	9,349	10,058
Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) initial claims	7,177	9,573	10,020
Continued/ongoing weekly claims	630,092	646,921	687,680
Total claims	673,444	706,309	736,151

Since the week ending March 7 when COVID-19 job losses began:

• A total of 2,311,878 initial claims have been filed during the pandemic (1,457,223 regular unemployment insurance, 458,034 PUA and 396,621 PEUC)
• A total of 1,271,260 distinct individuals have filed for unemployment benefits
• ESD has paid out over $8.1 billion in benefits
• 945,044 individuals who have filed an initial claim have been paid

“This past week, for the first time since the pandemic began, all initial claim types as well as continued and ongoing weekly claims decreased,” said ESD Commissioner, Suzi LeVine. “We are making excellent progress on our efforts to resolve the claims for those who have been waiting the longest, having reduced that backlog by nearly 75 percent. And for those looking to return to work, or who cannot yet return due to the crisis, I encourage you to check out the return to work and refusal of work pages on our website for the latest information. Both job seekers and employers should also go to WorkSourceWa.com for job postings, employment resources in your local community, and for virtual services – including  virtual job fairs, which directly connect job seekers and employers across the state.”

Original source can be found here.