More people are finding work and the state’s unemployment rate is slowly dropping, but those who remain unemployed will be facing a reduction of benefits — losing about six months in unemployment checks starting April 21st.

That’s because the state’s average unemployment rate over the last three months — which dropped to 8.2 percent in February — triggered a couple of formulas that the federal government uses to pay out long-term benefits.

People who lose their jobs can claim regular unemployment benefits for up to 26 weeks, paid for by the state. After that, a federal program that provides “emergency benefits” for 53 weeks kicks in.

A second federal program providing “extended benefits” continues paying out unemployment checks for another 20 weeks after a worker’s emergency benefits run out.

Because of the state’s reduced average unemployment rate, it will lose the extended benefits program altogether, and emergency benefits will be reduced by six weeks – shrinking the amount of long-term unemployment benefits a person can claim by 26 weeks.

Employment Security Commissioner Paul Trause said in a statement that while the state’s unemployment rate has improved, it is still high. “Losing up to six months of benefits will make the unemployment situation a lot more urgent for thousands of families,” he said.

Unemployed workers can go to go2worksource.com for more info and employment assistance.

Tags: unemployment

February’s labor statistics came out today and things improving: The state’s unemployment rate dropped to 8.2 percent in February, down from 8.4 percent in January.  It’s the lowest unemployment rate since January 2009, when it was 7.7 percent.

The state added about 4,200 jobs last month. The biggest uptick was in the leisure and hospitality sector, which added 2,500 jobs. That was followed by the construction, retail and transportation sectors.

Still, about 288,000 people were unemployed and looking for work in February. And about 197,000 claimed unemployment benefits, according to the Employment Security Department.

Tags: unemployment

January’s labor statistics came out today and the news is good: The unemployment rate has dropped to 8.3 percent, down from 8.6 percent in December. That represents a gain of 13,200 jobs.

The bad news: About 291,400 people in the state are receiving unemployment benefits. And as of the end of last week, 74,616 people have run out of unemployment benefits. 

Gov. Chris Gregoire sent out a statement after the announcement, saying the economy is showing “real and consistent signs of recovery.” She also said that as the economy improves and employers look to hire, she hopes they consider out-of-work Washingtonians for job openings.

“From the low point of the recession the state has regained about 98,000 jobs. These numbers are coupled with our decreasing unemployment rate, down significantly from a high of 10.2 percent in early 2010. That is good news and indicates we are in recovery, but we’ve still got to get thousands of Washingtonians back to work,” she said.

Tags: unemployment

The Senate committee on economic development is looking at the state of the state’s economy today.

When it comes to unemployment, Washington is somewhere in the middle of the pack. The smallest states — North Dakota, Nebraska, South Dakota, New Hampshire and Vermont — have the lowest unemployment, ranging from 3.4 percent to 4.5 percent. Washington’s unemployment, however, is about double that.

“The industries most affected by the recession are associated with housing, financial services, construction,” said Greg Weeks, director of the Employment Security Department. He said the pattern of the “tepid” recovery has been lead by a 15,000 job gain in manufacturing in the last year. Government, however, has been a drag — losing thousands of employees.  “The recession started and was hitting private industries first … and as they start to come out, then the tax ramifications of those cuts hit the public sector,” leading to job reductions in state and local governments.

State job recovery has been below par, Weeks said. “This recession has just hammered our state and we’re recovering slowly,” he said.

After Weeks was finished, Arun Raha, the state’s top economist — who announced that he’s leaving at the end of the month — presented. “What we said in the November forecast is coming true,” he said.

“If I had to make the forecast today … I would not anticipate having to make any significant up or down revisions” from the previous forecast, he said. (more…)

Tags: economy, unemployment

On the heels of this morning’s not-awful revenue forecast, the state also heard the latest jobs report. The good news: The state added 4,600 jobs in October and the unemployment rate is now the lowest it’s been since March 2009.

The bad news: The rate is 9 percent. And 314,698 people are still unemployed and looking for work in the state. Of those, about 176,000 were receiving unemployment benefits and nearly 65,000 unemployed workers have gone without a job for so long that they’ve simply run out of benefits.

According to the Employment Security Department, the industries with the biggest job gains were government, wholesale trade, education and health services, and manufacturing, which includes aerospace. But jobs were lost in professional and business services, transportation, warehousing and utilities, retail trade.

To view the full report, go here.

Tags: Jobs, unemployment

The Employment Security Department released survey results today that they hope debunks the myth that unemployes workers don’t look for jobs until their benefits are about to run out. ESD sent the survey out to anyone who had run out of unemployment benefits since Nov. 2009, and more than 5,000 people responded. The result: Three of four survey respondents who ran out of benefits are still out of work.

“The survey contradicts the perception that unemployed workers wait until their benefits run out, then quickly find work,” said ESD Commissioner Paul Trause. He added that there simply aren’t enough jobs.

The survey was sent to more than 30,000 “exhaustees” — those unemployed workers who have exhausted their benefits, which can last up to 99 weeks. Of those who responded and had found jobs, 80 percent were making less than they had before being laid off. The average pay cut was 29 percent. Survey respondents also said they feel age is a barrier to employment.

You can read the full report here.

Tags: Employment Security, ESD, unemployment

Washington’s unemployment statistics for April will released today — 9.1 percent of workers were looking for jobs and getting benefits from the state for the month, down from 9.2 percent in March. The state added an estimated 5,800 jobs last month, according to the Employment Security Department.

“We’re beginning to see job growth pick up some real momentum,” Employment Security Commissioner Paul Trause said in a statement. “It’s tough to not feel optimistic about where we’re going.”

For the past few months, the unemployment rate has bounced between 9.1 and 9.2 percent. In April, more than 307,000 people were unemployed and looking for work — 217,038 of those were receiving unemployment benefits.

For more information on unemployment, including help filing for benefits and finding a job, visit the Employment Security Department.

Tags: April, unemployment

The Employment Security Department — the agency that distributed unemployment benefits — found 7,000 people lied in order to get benefits last year. That’s out of the more than 500,000 unemployed workers who received benefits for the year.

The 7,000 claimants grabbed $14 million in benefits. Now that they’ve been caught, they’ll have to pay it all back — plus face penalties or jail time.

In 2010, ESD uncovered about $10 million in fraud. The department says the increase is in part due to increased efforts to catch cheaters. One improvement: They’ve been cross-matching more records with other state agencies.

How do people cheat to get unemployment? One man cited in the press release was depositing checks twice — once via a phone app that allowed him to deposit checks via photo, another in person. The same person filed unemployment claims for his infant.

Tags: fraud, unemployment

In this week’s show, which you can watch at 6:30 on TVW, we covered a dozen or so of the week’s biggest topics in the Legislature. If you need more information once you’ve watched the show, look no further.

Budget: Once again, the budget is our top story. The House passed its version last week and sent it to the Senate. Instead of passing that bill, a bipartisan group in the Senate drafted their own version and, by today, passed that off the floor. Gov. Chris Gregoire’s budget director had previously said she needed a budget on her desk by today in order for maximum savings to go into effect.

Unemployment rate decrease: This bill would reduce employers’ unemployment insurance rate – saving businesses $300 million this year. But in order for that savings to go into effect, the bill has to make it to the governor’s desk by Tuesday. This proposal also allows the federal government to continue paying extended unemployment benefits. Though it passed the Senate, it had a snag earlier in the week.

Fraud: Lawmakers are looking at reducing fraud to boost the bottom line. One bill would go specifically after Medicaid. Another bill, which had its first hearing today, would include all government fraud and give cash awards to whistleblowers.

Heart attacks: Police officers and firefighters told lawmakers this week that the adrenaline they experience on a daily basis increases their risk for heart attack and stroke. For that reason, they’re asking for those conditions to be considered work-related illnesses – in some cases.

Capital budget: The Great Recession isn’t just affecting the operating budget – with reduced bonding capacity, the capital budget is also smaller. This week, schools, ports and others told lawmakers what will happen if they don’t get funding.

Red light cameras: Cities and towns like red light cameras because they make people think twice about breaking the law – and they bring in some money. But lawmakers in the House looked at regulating cameras via several bills this week. One would outlaw the cameras, while others would give voters more say. Here’s one bill, and another, and another. And this one.

Department of Corrections: After an officer was strangled last weekend, the Department of Corrections is reviewing its policies. We have the story about the governor’s response, and you can read more about the department’s next steps here.

Dorn reshuffle: Gov. Chris Gregoire wants to restructure the way education is administered – starting with the state schools chief position. Her proposal, which Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn opposes, got a hearing this week.

Social emotional learning: Some education advocates say if students learned more about their emotions, they’d do better in school. But in a hearing on the bill this week, some parents worried that the curriculum may not match up with their own values, or that it would take time away from more critical lesson plans.

Online university: Sen. Jim Kastama wants to establish a public online university. The proposal had a hearing this week and we’ve got the details.

Tags: Budget, capital budget, department of corrections, Dorn, education, fraud, online university, OSPI, police, red light cameras, unemployment

The unemployment rate in Washington is holding steady at 8.9 percent, according to the Employment Security Department.

That leaves more than 310,000 people in Washington unemployed and looking for work. More than 235,000 of those received unemployment benefits.

Health services, manufacturing, information, financial activities, hospitality and wholesale trade all added jobs in the month. Government, transportation, services, retail trade and construction, however, were all down. The full report is here.

Tags: unemployment