New unemployment claims in the state dropped last week for the fourth consecutive week, according to the Washington state Employment Security Department.
Laid-off workers in the state filed 11,398 new jobless claims the week ending March 20, a 2.6% decrease compared with the week before, the department reported Thursday.
The decline in new claims is because of a decrease in layoffs in the retail trade, manufacturing and construction sectors, according to the ESD.
Continued claims in all unemployment categories dropped, with 435,675 benefit applications filed in the week ending March 20, a 3.1% decrease from a week prior.
New claims are now 91% below their level during the same
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