SEATTLE — New jobless claims in Washington jumped last week but remain well below normal for this time of year.
Washingtonians filed 6,047 new, or “initial,” claims for jobless benefits in the week ending Saturday, up 15.4 percent from the prior week, according to data posted Thursday by the state Employment Security Department.
The increase comes as claims remained unchanged nationally at 205,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
Despite the increase in new claims in Washington, the state remains nearly 28 percent below the level from the same week in 2019. Sectors that saw notable increases in claims included transportation and warehousing, retail, and construction.
The number of new claims in Washington was roughly a third less than the state received for the same week in 2019, 2018 and 2017.
The total number of people filing weekly unemployment claims rose 2.1 percent, to 49,879, but the figure was also down substantially from pre-pandemic years.
