New state jobless claims tick up

SEATTLE — New jobless claims in Washington rose slightly last week as a strengthening state economy faced growing uncertainties because of surging COVID-19 case counts.

Washingtonians filed 5,205 new, or “initial,” claims for unemployment benefits last week, a 2.6 percent increase from the prior week, the state Employment Security Department reported Thursday.

The increase puts Washington back above pre-pandemic levels for new claims. The state’s four-week moving average for new claims was 5,291, a slight decrease from last week’s four-week moving average, but a slight increase compared to the same period in 2019.

Washington’s increase comes as the state confronts many new COVID-19 cases fueled by the highly infectious delta variant and growing uncertainty about the pace of the state’s economic recovery.

In Washington, the number of overall claims — new claims plus ongoing claims that claimants must file each week — dropped 5.6 percent to 257,702 last week.

The number of new claims for federal pandemic extended benefits — for workers who have exhausted state benefits — nearly tripled last week from the prior week.