Spokane County workers continued to file unemployment claims in record numbers last week, according to data released Thursday by the Washington State Employment Security Department.

Spokane County workers filed 8,382 initial jobless claims April 5-11, pushing the total to more than 40,667 since the coronavirus pandemic forced closure of nonessential businesses in mid-March.

However, county unemployment claims filed last week are a 26% decrease from the 11,347 filed a week prior, according to the department.

Food service was among the hardest hit industries in the county, with 713 claims filed by workers last week. Public administration workers filed 679 claims, specialty trade contractors filed 621, and administration and support workers filed 582.

The Employment Security Department’s system will be updated Saturday to enable provisions under the CARES Act to expand unemployment benefit eligibility for self-employed workers and independent contractors.

It will also increase the weekly unemployment benefit by $600 and extend the time frame for unemployment assistance by 13 weeks.

“We do expect to see an increase (in claims) when that program kicks in,” said Doug Tweedy, regional economist for the Employment Security Department.

There could be an uptick in claims filed in the county later this month in the administrative and business services sector, which includes contracted workers, he said.

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