Even with state slowly restarting the economy, Whatcom job losses continue to mount
Washington state’s job market continued to suffer major losses last week as it began the process of slowly restarting the economy during this coronavirus pandemic.
For the week ending May 2, a total of 100,752 people filed initial unemployment claims across Washington, according to the latest data from the state’s Employment Security Department. It’s the fifth time in the past six weeks that the weekly claims total has topped 100,000.
In Whatcom County 3,170 people filed their initial jobless claim last week. Since the pandemic restrictions took hold in mid-March, 30,674 residents have filed for benefits. That represents 26% of the county residents working in February.
In terms of receiving benefits, the state estimates 545,178 residents have been paid unemployment benefits, while approximately 57,000 are still waiting to get their claims resolved.
“Getting those Washingtonians their benefits is our agency’s top priority. We are doubling down on activities already underway to reach our goal of getting all of those claims in adjudication resolved or paid by June 15,” said Employment Security Commissioner Suzi LeVine in a news release accompanying the data.
Across the state last week the heath care/social assistance category continued to suffer the most job losses. That category includes a wide range of professions, including dentists, chiropractors, counselors and youth services. Retail trade was next, followed by lodging and food services.
Construction had nearly 5,000 jobless claims last week, but that’s down 20% from the previous week. The state is allowing some unfinished projects to continue, possibly leading to fewer initial claims.
