New jobless claims in state, county declined last week

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

Laid-off workers in the state filed 18,403 new jobless claims in the week ending Sept. 12, an 8% decrease compared with the prior week, the department reported Thursday.

The department paid out more than $157 million for 340,352 total individual claims, a decrease of $19.5 million compared with the prior week.

Accommodation and food services posted the greatest number of new claims last week with 1,892.

Construction workers filed 1,760 new claims and the educational services sector filed 1,751, according to the department.

Laid-off workers in Spokane County filed 1,036 new unemployment claims the week ending Sept. 12, a 3.7% decrease compared with 1,076 claims filed the week before, according to the state Employment Security Department.

Idaho jobless claims fell 4% last week

New jobless claims in Idaho declined 4% in the week ending Sept. 12, compared with a week prior, according to the Idaho Department of Labor.

Laid-off workers in Idaho filed 3,672 new claims last week, the department said Thursday.

Continued claims dropped 12% to 11,510 last week, marking the 19th consecutive week of declines, according to the department.

Manufacturing represented 16% of total claims filed last week. Health care and social assistance, administrative and support services, and retail each accounted for 11% of claims last week.

The department paid out $15 million in claims during the week ending Sept. 12, down from $41.9 million a week prior.