Coronavirus job losses continue in Tri-Cities; 13% of workforce is gone in 3 weeks
Job losses continued to surge across Washington last week, but at a slightly slower pace than at the end of March.
In Washington, 170,063 people filed for initial claims for unemployment insurance for the week ending April 4, according to the latest data from the Employment Security Department.
That’s down from 181,975 in the previous week, but still is the second-highest weekly total the state has experienced.
In Benton and Franklin counties 5,131 people filed claims last week, fewer than the previous weeks’ total of 5,942.
The three-week total for job losses in the Tri-Cities area is 15,191, which represents about 13 percent of that area’s total workforce.
Three weeks ago is when the statewide stay at home restrictions started to slow the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
Employment Security Commissioner Suzi LeVine cautioned that the state’s decrease in jobless claims compared to the week before is not yet a trend.
“We expect to see a new surge of claims in the coming weeks,” LeVine said in a news release noting that more workers will become eligible as new state and federal programs take effect.
The construction industry continued to take the biggest hit, having 24,394 initial unemployment claims filed last week across the state.
Retail trade was next, followed by health care/social assistance, lodging/food service and manufacturing.
“The velocity and volume of the impact of COVID-19 has created a crisis that is unprecedented in the history of the program — going back to the 1930s when it was established,” LeVine said in late March.
At the national level, the figure dropped off by 261,000 from the previous week to slightly over 6.6 million unemployed.
This story was originally published April 9, 2020 at 1:39 PM with the headline "Coronavirus job losses continue in Tri-Cities; 13% of workforce is gone in 3 weeks."
