New weekly jobless claims drop in state, Spokane County

Laid-off workers in the state filed 11,666 new jobless claims the week ending May 22, a 40.5% decrease compared with 19,619 claims the week before, the department reported Thursday.

New jobless claims are now 76% below the number of applications filed during the same time last year, according to the ESD.

Continued claims in all unemployment categories dropped 11.2%, with 416,462 applications filed in the week ending May 22.

Employees in the construction sector filed the greatest number of new claims in the state last week, with 1,634, followed by retail trade, which filed 1,180. Workers in the health care and social assistance sector filed 1,100, and those in accommodation and food services filed 862.

Laid-off workers in Spokane County filed 774 new unemployment claims the week ending May 22, a 43.6% drop from the 1,373 claims filed the week before, according to the employment security department.

The ESD paid more than $233 million in benefits last week. It has paid $18.4 billion in benefits since the pandemic’s onset last year.Amy Edelen can be reached at (509) 459-5581 or at amye@spokesman.com.