Washington unemployment claims more than doubled during the second week of March as the state began to restrict activities to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus.
State officials anticipate an even bigger jump this past week.
The Employment Security Department reported that 14,000 new claims for unemployment benefits were filed between March 8th and 14th, a week that featured Governor Jay Inslee’s call to restrict the size of gatherings to no more than 250 people and a closure of all schools. The new claims represented an increase of 7,600 over the previous week.
The biggest increases were in the accommodation and food services sector, which was up nearly 600 percent, education services, up 570 percent, and entertainment and recreation, up about 250 percent. The largest group of workers filing new claims were age 34 or younger.
The department anticipates substantially higher numbers of new claims in the report that will come out on Thursday following more restrictive orders statewide. (Employment Security Department)
