By Rachel La Corte
The Associated Press
OLYMPIA — More than 585,000 people in Washington sought unemployment benefits last week, with 143,000 people filing claims for the first time as businesses remain closed or with limited operations due to the stay-at-home order issued in response to the coronavirus pandemic, state officials said Thursday.
While the number of new claims for the week of April 5-11 declined from the previous week, it was still the third highest weekly number of claims on record, according to the state Employment Security Department.
The department has paid out nearly $272 million in benefits since early March, with nearly $126 million being paid out last week to more than 265,000 unemployed workers.
“People are abiding by the stay-home, stay-healthy order and yet they are experiencing extraordinary economic hardship, and we are seeking to resolve that,” Employment Security Commissioner Suzi LeVine said at a news conference with Gov. Jay Inslee.
“While we have paid out so much into people’s pockets and into the economy, people are still in deep need.”
LeVine said that on Saturday the system will be updated so that previously ineligible employees — like independent contractors and part-time employees who work fewer than 680 hours — can start applying for benefits under the expansion of unemployment benefits passed by Congress.
The updated system also will start adding another element from the federal economic rescue package: an additional $600 a week in jobless aid, on top of what recipients receive from the state.
Workers will also get an additional 13 weeks of benefits beyond the six months of jobless aid that most states offer.
In Washington state, where the maximum weekly benefit is $790 a week, the additional $600 will be paid retroactive back to March 29, officials said.
LeVine said because of the newly eligible workers who will start applying for benefits this weekend, the agency anticipates several hundred thousand more who will apply within the next two weeks.
She encouraged people to first go to the agency’s website, in order to use the online eligibility checker and application checklist, and said that those who have previously been denied but will be eligible under this weekend’s expansion will need to apply again.
She said that for people with direct deposit set up through the system, they will receive their weekly benefit plus the $600 bonus within 24-48 hours after their application is approved. For those who receive their benefits by check, it will arrive within five to seven days.
The state’s stay-at-home order that closed all non-essential businesses has already been extended once and is currently in place through May 4.
Inslee has warned that it is possible the order may have to be extended once again, and said at a news conference Wednesday that any reopening of the economy will have to be phased in.
The increase in claims comes as Washington’s unemployment rate increased to 5.1 percent last month and the state’s economy lost more than 11,000 jobs, though officials noted that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the workforce isn’t likely to be fully reflected until the April report is released next month.
In the past month, about 22 million Americans nationwide have filed for unemployment aid due to the economic impacts of the coronavirus.
More than 10,700 people in Washington state have tested positive for the virus and more than 560 have died. The virus causes mild to moderate symptoms in most patients, and the vast majority recover. But it is highly contagious and can be spread by those who appear healthy and can cause severe illness and death in some patients, particularly the elderly and those with underlying health conditions.
