SEATTLE (AP) — Fewer people in Washington filed for unemployment benefits last week than the week before.
Washingtonians filed 17,596 new, or “initial,” claims for regular unemployment benefits last week, a decrease of nearly 10 percent from the previous week, the state Employment Security Department reported Wednesday.
Nationally, initial claims fell 10 percent last week to 803,000, the Labor Department said Wednesday.
Although new claims declined in Washington, they remain roughly twice as high as the same week last year.
The total number of Washingtonians receiving unemployment benefits last week was 286,102, a decrease of 3.5 percent from the previous week, ESD reported.
