Coronavirus job losses continue in Whatcom County; 15% 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 Whatcom County, 5,885 people filed claims last week, also fewer than the previous weeks’ total of 6,268. Whatcom’s three-week total for job losses is 16,581, which represents about 15% of Whatcom’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.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/coronavirus-job-losses-continue-in-whatcom-county-15percent-of-workforce-is-gone-in-3-weeks/ar-BB12oISp