BELLEVUE, Wash. — During the week of April 12-18, more than 82,000 people filed for jobless claims in Washington State.
While initial claims declined 42% from the previous week, total claims continued to grow, according to the Employment Security Department.
The head of the state's unemployment office says this is the calm before the storm.
The latest jobless numbers cover the week ending April 18, which was right before the state began accepting applications for expanded benefits.
Since early March, more than 600,000 people have filed for unemployment.
Retail trade, healthcare and manufacturing are the top three industries affected.
Financial expert and CEO of Guidant Financial, David Nilssen says even after it's safe enough for stay home orders to be lifted, consumers will likely feel comfortable spending again, but how they spend their money could change.
"Many people who have been adverse to shopping online who didn't want to use Instacart to have groceries bought to their brought to their home, but are now recognizing that they don't have to trade quality and cost for convenience. So, the question will be how many people actually want to return to the way of life," Nilssen said.
As for just how long it could take for the economy to get back to some sort of normalcy, Nilssen says it could take some time.
"This didn't just hit you know one area, it has affected the entire US and most of the globe, so it's hard to understand, but I do believe that it's going to be a multi-year recovery and not one that comes in the next three to six months, like many are hoping," Nilssen said.
Since the Employment Security Department expanded eligibility for unemployment benefits and updated their system on April 18, nearly $900 million has been paid out to Washingtonians.
That brings the total in unemployment benefits paid out to Washingtonians to nearly $1.4 billion since the coronavirus outbreak began.
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“It is humbling to think that we have put almost $1.4 billion dollars into the pockets of Washingtonians and into the economy since this crisis began - with nearly $1 billion issued just this week,” Employment Security Department Commissioner, Suzi LeVine said. “In fact, in just the first 36 hours, the number of applications submitted exceeded the highest week on record - the week ending 3/28, in which we had 182,000 new applications – which was seven times the peak week of the 2008/2009 recession.”
The Employment Security Department updated their system to enable several provisions of the federal CARES act - expanding eligibility for benefits to those previously ineligible, increasing benefits by $600, and extending benefits by 13 weeks.