New jobless claims in state, Spokane County drop for fifth consecutive week

New jobless claims in the state continued to decline last week as fewer layoffs occurred in the accommodation and food services sector when compared to previous weeks, according to Washington State Employment Security Department.

Laid-off workers in the state filed 15,644 new jobless claims the week ending Feb. 6, a 2.8% decrease compared with the previous week, the department reported Thursday.

The drop in new claims marks the fifth consecutive week of declines.

Continued claims in all unemployment categories also dropped slightly last week, with 489,442 benefit applications filed in the week ending Feb. 6, a 1.5% decrease from a week prior.

Workers in the construction sector filed the greatest number of new claims last week, with 2,366, followed by those in the retail trade sector, with 1,543. Laid-off workers in the accommodation and food services sector filed 1,455, while the employees in the health care and social assistance sector filed 1,308, according to the ESD.

The ESD paid more than $256 million in benefits last week. It has paid $14.6 billion in benefits since the pandemic’s onset in the region in March.

Laid-off workers in Spokane County filed 1,019 new unemployment claims the week ending Feb. 6, a 6.4% decrease compared with 1,088 claims filed the week before, according to the employment security department.

In the county, 400 new claims last week came from undisclosed professions, which have not yet been categorized into specific employment sectors.

Specialty trade contractors filed 111 new jobless claims in the county last week. The food services and drinking places sector saw 79 filed, while the social assistance sector saw 39 filed.Amy Edelen can be reached at (509) 459-5581 or at amye@spokesman.com.