Those collecting unemployment benefits under the American Rescue Plan must accept "suitable" employment when offered, President Biden said Monday, responding to last week's underwhelming April jobs report.Read More
Signs of an economic boom are emerging as Americans open up their wallets to spend freely. Retail sales soared 9.8% in March, according to a report Thursday from the Commerce Department. The increase follows a 2.7% slump in February, which analysts blamed partly on severe winter weather.Read More
The amount of fraudulent payments of unemployment benefits distributed in Washington state during the height of the coronavirus pandemic was likely higher than the $647 million identified by the Washington state Employment Security Department, according to a new set of reports released by the state auditor’s office Tuesday.Read More
Hiring picked up steam in February as a winter wave of coronavirus infections eased and consumers spent more freely. U.S. employers added 379,000 jobs in February, while the unemployment rate dipped to 6.2%.Read More
A bill that increases the minimum weekly benefit for unemployed workers during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and prevents a dramatic increase in unemployment taxes paid by businesses was signed into law Monday by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee.Read More
A data breach may have exposed the personal information of 1.6 million residents who filed for unemployment last year, as well as other information from state agencies and local governments, Washington state Auditor Pat McCarthy said Monday.Read More
The plan includes $618 million to boost vaccination efforts and contact tracing. It also includes $668 million for school assistance, $365 million to aid renters and landlords and $240 million for grants to businesses.Read More
U.S. employers added just 245,000 jobs last month as the runaway pandemic continued to weigh on hiring. The unemployment rate fell to 6.7% from 6.9% in October.Read More
Ahmad Ghabboun, 31, and his wife, who was laid off from the beauty department of Nordstrom’s, relied on their combined unemployment benefits to cover their $1,800 rent, the $200 monthly payment on Ghabboun’s car, and various bills, not to mention the costs of preparing for their first child: Ghabboun’s wife was six months pregnant when he received the alert claiming he Read More
Boeing started the year with about 160,000 employees around the world, but in the memo to employees, Calhoun said "we anticipate a workforce of about 130,000 employees by the end of 2021."Read More
Many unemployed Americans have been tapping into their savings to pay bills. But those savings are going fast, and hopes for a new round of pandemic relief before the election are fading.Read More
"To our departing 13,000 family members: thank you for your dedication and we look forward to welcoming you back," United told employees, as CARES Act payroll aid was set to expire.Read More
Thousands of foreign workers who entered the U.S. on temporary work visas received $1,200 pandemic stimulus checks in error, and many of them are spending the money in their home countries.Read More
The coronavirus triggered the sharpest economic contraction in modern history in the second quarter as the pandemic hammered the economy, the Commerce Department said Thursday.Read More
After days of delays, congressional Republicans unveiled their $1 trillion proposal for a fifth wave of pandemic relief. Democrats are not on board — signaling tough negotiations ahead.Read More
State governments face a precipitous drop in revenue, parents and teachers are debating how kids will return to school in the fall, and millions of unemployed workers face the prospect of their pandemic assistance running out at the end of the month.Read More
Some nursing homes and long-term care facilities say they're struggling to fill shifts as certified nursing assistants opt for unemployment benefits during the pandemic.Read More
The Fed leaves interest rates near zero as expected, and promises to use all of its tools to support the economy. Officials project unemployment above 9% at the end of this year.Read More
The committee tasked with marking U.S. business cycles says the economy peaked in February and has since been in a recession triggered by the pandemic. But it says the recession could be short-lived.Read More
Frustration with long delays in getting jobless benefits is boiling over into a lawsuit against the Washington State Employment Security Department. Attorneys representing two laid off workers and the nonprofit Unemployment Law Project filed the case directly with the state Supreme Court on Friday.Read More
Hardship programs appear to be helping many people pause payments and survive the economic shutdown so far. But not everybody is getting the help, and advocates see big potential trouble ahead.Read More
More than 1 in 4 U.S. workers have lost their jobs since coronavirus shutdowns began. Last week, an additional 2.1 million people filed for unemployment benefits.Read More
The number of people traveling by air has plummeted more than 90% since the beginning of March. More than half of the employees losing their jobs are being laid off involuntarily.Read More
At the request of a powerful Democratic state senator who warned of “foreign intrusion,” Washington’s Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) on Sunday temporarily suspended public, online access to the personal financial statements of elected officials, candidates and other public officials.Read More
Impostors have used the stolen information of tens of thousands of people in Washington to fraudulently receive hundreds of millions of dollars in unemployment benefits, the head of the state’s Employment Security Department said Thursday.Read More
Because of the COVID-19 crisis, 47% of adults say their households have lost employment income and close to 40% have delayed getting medical care, according to early results of a Census Bureau survey.Read More
The current estimated unemployment rate far exceeds the 10 percent peak reached in the Great Recession in 2009. It is the most devastating loss of jobs since the Great Depression, when economists estimate the unemployment rate reached 25 percent in 1933. Read More
U.S. employers shed a record number of jobs in April, as the unemployment rate climbed to the highest since the Great Depression. The coronavirus crisis has locked down much of the economy.Read More
Another 3.8 million people filed claims for unemployment last week, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to weigh on the U.S. job market. That brought the total for the past 6 weeks to 30.3 million.Read More
Idaho Gov. Brad Little has announced a four-stage plan for re-opening the state’s businesses and communities after closures due to the coronavirus. The first stage is scheduled to take effect May 1.Read More
The number of people forced out of work during the coronavirus lockdown keeps soaring. Last week, 4.4 million people filed for jobless benefits, boosting the total since last month to 26 million.Read More
Fresh numbers of initial claims for jobless benefits showed some moderation in the past week in the staggering wave of layoffs across the Northwest caused by the coronavirus pandemic. But the level of unemployment claims continues to hover at record levels, as reported Thursday by the state labor and employment departments of Washington, Idaho and Oregon.Read More
The number of people filing for unemployment climbed by another 5.2 million, as the toll of the nation's economic dive continues to mount. In the past four weeks, 22 million have filed claims.Read More
With President Donald Trump suggesting he has authority to unilaterally re-open businesses around the country, West Coast governors on Monday presented a united front, saying they’ll only lift restrictions when public health data suggests they can.Read More
There are hundreds of thousands of additional jobless workers waiting in the wings to file claims, including part-time and gig economy workers and self-employed who qualify under expanded federal benefits. But they are temporarily frozen out. The wait for overloaded unemployment systems to catch up is leaving some of them frustrated or anxious.Read More
The number of people seeking jobless benefits shot up again last week, as 6.6 million more of the unemployed filed first-time claims. Much of the economy has shut down, leaving millions out of work.Read More
The COVID-19 pandemic is taking a terrible toll on the world's economy, with lockdown measures now affecting the livelihood of almost 2.7 billion workers, according to a new report.Read More
As coronavirus pandemic shutters small businesses across the Northwest, business owners are bracing for a wave of insurance denials. That’s because insurers have been telling businesses that coronavirus losses don’t count.Read More
Rent is due this week. But with stay-home orders in both Washington and Idaho, shuttered businesses and a troubled economy, some people wonder if they’ll get evicted if they don’t pay. In Washington, a moratorium on evictions gives protection to renters hit hard by the COVID outbreak. Idaho has no such moratorium, but a recent court order may protect them.Read More
The federal government is throwing $2 trillion at the coronavirus problem. Banks and other lenders are doing things to assist people on top of that. Here's your survival kit for how to get the help that's available and be in the best financial shape possible as you weather this storm.Read More
Under the plan, single people earning incomes below $75,000 will receive as much as $1,200. The White House says it will issue funds in three weeks but experts say it could take months for some.Read More
The state Dept. of Ecology will bring the student crews back next summer. But the agency will will hire more adult crews, ages 18 and up, to pick up litter. There won’t be as many openings as with youth workers because the adults will work longer than three weeks. Read More
Like many decades-old businesses, Yakima and Seattle-based PaintSmith has had experience with layoffs. After the 2008 recession, the company went from 80 employees to just 10. It taught Smith that his company can survive financial downturns. Read More
Mirroring the national trend, Washington, Idaho and Oregon are experiencing an unprecedented spike in unemployment claims caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.Read More
Forecasters say the government's aggressive efforts to curtail the spread of the virus will trigger the sharpest slowdown on record. Some see the economy shrinking a staggering 24%.Read More
Bigger artists may count on fan support and labels to carry them through canceled tours, but working musicians — from orchestra members and wedding singers to indie rappers — are looking elsewhere.Read More
Economists warned that business and consumer caution about the virus is likely to weigh on job growth in the months to come.Read More
The bureau says it needs around a half-million temporary workers by this spring to carry out the national head count. Some census advocates are worried the agency isn't moving fast enough on hiring.Read More
Women now hold just over half of all payroll jobs in America, for only the second time in history. Read More
In the last few decades, many high-paying jobs that are mostly done by men – like manufacturing – have contracted or disappeared. At the same time, many jobs in fields dominated by women – like education and health care – have significantly increased.Read More
