State Unemployment Numbers for Last Full Week of 2020

The Washington State Employment Security Department (ESD) provided statewide unemployment numbers for the week ending December 26th, the last full week of 2020.

According to the ESD, initial unemployment claims were up 9.1% from the previous week and are almost double (92%) the amount one year ago.

Seasonal layoffs in construction and agriculture drove an increase in new jobless claims last week. Regular initial claims in the construction sector increased by 629 over the week to 3,329 total regular initial claims, while initial claims in the agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting sector increased by 286 over the week to 990 initial claims.

The ESD paid out over $139 million in individual claims last week.