Unemployment claims soar for second straight week in Whatcom, Washington state
With more businesses adhering to the coronavirus restrictions, unemployment claims continue to soar across Whatcom County and Washington state.
In Whatcom County, 6,268 people filed unemployment claims for the week ending March 28, according to new data from the Washington State Employment Security Department. In the past two weeks, 10,696 Whatcom residents have now filed initial claims after losing their jobs, which is about 10% of the total workforce.
Across the state 181,975 people filed new claims for the week ending March 28, a 41% increase compared to the previous week. By comparison, this is seven times the peak week during the 2008/2009 recession, which saw 26,075 weekly initial claims.
“These numbers suggest two contrasting points: 1) that more and more businesses and individuals are abiding by the ‘Stay Home, Stay Healthy’ order — which is critical for the health of our fellow Washingtonians, and 2) this virus is having a profoundly negative impact on our economic health, and that Washington businesses and workers are hurting like never before,” Suzi LeVine, Employment Security commissioner, said in a news release accompanying the data.
Last week it was the construction industry that took the biggest hit across the state as the non-essential business restrictions took hold. Construction across the state had 28,021 initial claims last week, up 438% from the previous week. In the week ending March 21, it was restaurants and accommodations that were hardest hit.
Other hard-hit industries for the week ending on March 28 include wholesale trade (jobless claims up 166% from the previous week), manufacturing (up 165%) and retail trade (up 153%).
Whatcom County has followed a very similar pattern to the state as a whole, said Anneliese Vance-Sherman, a regional labor economist for the state. Restaurants and hotels were the first businesses impacted by the pandemic; last week it was construction workers as the state clarified which construction projects are deemed essential.
The construction job losses in Whatcom come after what’s been a steady buildup of that industry in recent years. During the summer months, Whatcom’s construction industry employs around 10,000 people.
Any recovery in the job market will have to wait until the stay-at-home restrictions start to ease, said James McCafferty, co-director at the Center for Economic and Business Research at Western Washington University. Once those restrictions start to be lifted, the expectation is that the U.S. will see a robust recovery, but not as strong as after the 2003 SARS outbreak, which was more quickly contained.
This story was originally published April 2, 2020 at 10:33 AM.
