Washington state鈥檚 total unemployment claims climb to nearly 600,000 as coronavirus pushes nationwide tally toward Depression territory
Last week Suzi LeVine, head of Washington鈥檚 Employment Security Department, warned of in coming weeks as the coronavirus pandemic continued to march through the state economy.
This week, that forecast was largely born out.
On Thursday, the state reported receiving 143,241 initial claims for unemployment insurance for the week ending April 11. That represented a nearly 16% decline from the week prior week鈥搕he second consecutive weekly dip in jobless claims. But it was still roughly 22 times the number filed that same week a year ago, and it brings the total number of initial and recurring unemployment claims to 585,983, which is nearly twice the peak recorded during the Great Recession.
Tags
Coronavirus News