New jobless claims decline for second consecutive week in state, Spokane County

New jobless claims declined for the second consecutive week in the state and Spokane County, according to the Washington State Employment Security Department.

Laid-off workers in Washington filed 14,198 new jobless claims Oct. 18-24, a drop of 15.9% compared with the previous week, the department reported Thursday.

More than 475,441 claims in all unemployment benefit categories were filed last week, a 3.2% decrease from a week prior.

The ESD paid more than $145 million in benefits for the week ending Oct. 24. It has paid more than $11.9 billion in benefits since the pandemic’s onset in mid-March.

The construction sector saw the greatest number of new claims last week with 1,756. Workers in the accommodation and food services sector filed 1,532 new claims, and health care and social assistance workers filed 1,207. Laid-off retail trade workers filed 1,135 new claims last week.

Laid-off workers in Spokane County filed 908 new unemployment claims the week ending Oct. 24, a 5.6% decrease compared with 962 claims filed a week prior, according to the employment security department.

In the county, 359 new claims last week were from undisclosed professions, while laid-off workers in the food services and drinking places sector filed 93, followed by specialty trade contractors, which totaled 76 claims. Administrative and support services sector workers filed 54 new claims, according to ESD data.

New jobless claims in Idaho increase 17.3%

Laid-off workers in Idaho filed 3,862 new benefit claims in the week ending Oct. 24, an increase of 569 claims from the 3,293 filed the previous week, a 17.3% jump, according to the Idaho Department of Labor.

Continued benefit claims dropped 2% to 8,024 last week, marking the 25th consecutive week of declines, according to the department.

The department paid out $6 million in benefits last week, up from $5.8 million paid in the week ending Oct. 17.