The Employment Security Department’s weekly report shows a continuing drastic reduction of those receiving unemployment checks on a week to week basis.

 

Federal benefit programs, including Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) as well as the additional $300 per week for most claimants, expired the week ending Sept. 4, 2021

The week ending Sept 11, 2021… 180,372 people were receiving an unemployment

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check.  Because of the expiration of the special COVID programs the figure for the week ending Sept 18, 2021 plummeted to 53,687 people receiving an unemployment check.

At the beginning of the pandemic on March 14th 2020, the figure was 45,437 receiving unemployment benefits that raised to a high of 472,789 (nearly a half million unemployed!!) on Sept 26th 2020.

(There is no word in the report how the embezzlement affected the figures.)

As late as July 10th 2021 the figure was a quarter million Washington Residents.

Since the COVID began the Employment Security Department has paid $21.3 Billion in benefits to just under two million Washingtonians…

Maybe some positions will now be filled.

 

 

Here is the Chart:

Pandemic Unemployment figures