Coronavirus job losses continue in Pierce County; 18% of workforce is gone in 3 weeks
Job losses continued to surge across Washington state 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 is still the second-highest weekly total the state has experienced.
In Pierce County 22,379 people filed claims last week, slightly more than the previous weeks’ total of 22,145. Pierce’s three-week total for job losses is 59,254, which represents about 18% of Pierce’s total workforce. Three weeks ago is when the statewide restrictions to slow the spread of the coronavirus started being put in place.
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 accompanying the data, 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.
This story was originally published April 9, 2020 at 11:06 AM with the headline "Coronavirus job losses continue in Pierce County; 18% of workforce is gone in 3 weeks."
