New jobless claims in Washington rose slightly last week, but remain well below pre-pandemic levels as the state economy continues its recovery from layoffs due to COVID-19 and harsh winter weather.
Washingtonians filed 4,863 new, or “initial,” claims for jobless benefits in the week ending Saturday, according to data posted Thursday by the state Employment Security Department. That’s up less than half a percent from the prior week, and is around 40% below the same week in 2020, before the pandemic had begun causing major job losses.
Washington’s latest claims data comes as the nation saw a 6.7% drop in new claims, to 223,000, the third straight weekly decline, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
In Washington, claims in early January had spiked because of a combination of extreme winter, seasonal layoffs and a surge in COVID-19 cases related to the omicron variant of the coronavirus, state economists said.
Last week saw new claims remain virtually flat in nearly all industries across the state.
The number of Washingtonians collecting benefits last week rose around 3%, to 49,956, and total benefits paid fell 5% to $24 million.
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