New jobless claims still declining in state, Spokane County

New jobless claims in the state and Spokane County dropped last week, the third consecutive week of decline, according to the Washington State Employment Security Department.

Laid-off workers in the state filed 15,496 new jobless claims Sept. 27-Oct. 3, a 12.6% decrease compared with the previous week, the department reported Thursday.

More than 506,708 total claims in all unemployment benefit categories in the state were filed last week, a 4.5% drop from a week before.

The ESD paid more than $162 million in benefits for the week ending Oct. 3.

The accommodation and food services sector saw the greatest number of new claims last week with 1,824. However, that number was a 14% decrease from 2,162 new claims filed by that sector’s workers in the week ending Sept. 26, according to the department.

Laid-off construction workers filed 1,644 new claims, those in the retail trade sector filed 1,297, and employees in the health care and social assistance sector filed 1,293.

Laid-off workers in Spokane County filed 854 new unemployment claims the week ending Oct. 3, a 19% decrease compared with 1,056 claims filed the week before, the department said.

In the county, more than 417 new claims last week came from undisclosed professions, while laid-off workers in the food services and drinking places sector filed 92, followed by specialty trade contractors, which tallied 58 claims, according to data from the ESD.

New, continued claims decline in Idaho

Laid-off workers in Idaho filed 2,955 new benefit claims in the week ending Oct.3, a decrease of 40 claims compared with the prior week, according to the Idaho Department of Labor.

Continued claims dropped 8% to 9,144 last week, marking the 22nd consecutive week of declines, according to the department.

The department paid out $7.1 million in benefits last week, unchanged from the week ending Sept. 26.