Washington state’s weekly jobless claims jump to record 182,000 amid coronavirus

unemployment

A record 182,000 Washington state residents filed for unemployment insurance last week as the coronavirus pandemic continues to decimate the state’s economy. The state Employment Security Department says Washington’s new claims filed during the week ending March 28 represent a 41 percent jump over the previous week’s already record-breaking number of nearly 129,000 claims. The massive job losses were among more than 6.6 million new jobless claims filed last week across the country, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The numbers bring the state’s new jobless claims to nearly 350-thousand since the beginning of March when the pandemic began to significantly affect the state economy. They will also add urgency to efforts by the Employment Security Department to upgrades its systems to handle more jobless claims as well as an influx of federal stimulus money. The federal money will allow the state to pay unemployment insurance to many more state residents, including many who are normally not eligible to receive state jobless benefits. But due to software and other problems, the state’s claims system has struggled to keep up with the soaring volume of claims, and state officials do not expect the additional jobless benefits to be available until April 18.  (Seattle Times, Employment Security Department)