During the week of November 15 – 21, there were 30,274 initial regular unemployment claims (up 79.8 percent from the prior week) and 464,884 total claims for all unemployment benefit categories (up 7.1 percent from the prior week) filed by Washingtonians, according to the Employment Security Department (ESD).  

• Initial regular claims applications remain at elevated levels and are at 263 percent above last year’s weekly new claims applications.
• Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation initial claims increased over the week.
• Continued/ongoing claims for regular benefits increased 3.5 percent over the week.
• The increase in initial claims over the week was seen across the nation. Initial claims figures include both new and restarted claims by previous customers.
• In Washington:
  • Increases occurred predominately in the Accommodation and Food Services sector (+6,937 initial claims).
  • Increases also occurred in the Arts, Entertainment and Recreation sector (+986 initial claims) and Retail trade sector (+779 initial claims).
  • The largest increase by occupation occurred in food preparation and serving (+7,954 over the week). This is likely attributed to the COVID-19 public health restrictions recently put in place.     

In the week ending November 21, ESD paid out over $135.5 million for 282,837 individual claims. Since the crisis began in March, ESD has paid more than $12.5 billion in benefits to over a million Washingtonians.