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

Job growth is “wobbly,” but the unemployment rate for Washington is below 9 percent for July, according to Employment Security Commissioner Karen Lee.

July’s employment rate — 8.9 percent — represents the fourth month of decreases in unemployment. June’s unemployment rate was initially reported at 8.9 percent, but was then adjusted to 9 percent.

The state still has 14,500 fewer jobs than July of last year and more than 300,000 people unemployed. About 239,000 of those received unemployment benefits in July.

Tags: unemployment

For the first time in three years, the Employment Security Department is reporting there are 21 percent more jobs listed than six months ago.

The Washington Job Vacancy Survey is done twice a year — in the fall and spring. The spring results were just released, and show38,732 vacancies — up from 32,037 in the fall. The record high was 90,000 vacancies in 2006, ESD reports.

“This is positive news for the thousands of people in our state who are hungry to get back to work,” Employment Security Commissioner Karen Lee said in a press release. She said it will take some time to get all of the hundreds of thousands of unemployed people in the state back to work, but she sees this as a positive sign.

About 44 percent of the jobs listed were in King County. Many of the jobs statewide were in healthcare. Read the entire survey here.

Tags: Jobs, unemployment

This week’s Q&A is with Sheryl Hutchison, communication director for the Employment Security Department. The department is responsible for tracking employment statistics, maintaining WorkSource offices around the state and much, much more.

Q: What’s the latest unemployment rate? Is the economy recovering yet?

Hutchison: Let’s start with the first question. We announced today that the unemployment rate in June dropped to 8.9 percent, which is the lowest since April, 2009. That’s obviously a better direction.

The next set of statistics for July will come out Aug. 17.

In all likelihood what we’ve been seeing when the rate has dropped as much as this one did, chances are it will be revised up to 9 percent.

But, it’s just exciting to see something less than 9 percent. This is the third month in a row that it has declined. Since the start of the year, we’ve had a net job growth in this state of more than 23,000 jobs. For us, that’s a lot more exciting than what the unemployment rate is. You’re seeing things turn around – it’s not a steep U-shaped recovery where it’s going right back up. But it is the right direction….last year (in the same five-month period) we had lost about 77,000 jobs. So that’s a big sea change.

Q: Part of high unemployment is that it depletes the Unemployment Insurance trust fund. When the Legislature increased the benefit payout, there was some concern the trust fund would be depleted too far. Where does that stand?

Hutchison: We still have the healthiest trust fund in the country. Thirty five states and territories have bankrupted their trust funds. Furthermore, we do not anticipate triggering any surcharges.

One of the benefits going into the recession with a healthy trust fund is it allowed us to increase benefits. At the end of May, the trust fund reserves were at 13.9 months. Typically, the federal government advises that you go into the recession with at least 12 months. We’ve come down, but we’re still healthy.

Q: Do you anticipate the fund dipping further?

Hutchison: No, we really don’t.  Part of the reason is that through our governor and the Legislature, we’ve created a responsive system that reacts before we get to a critical stage. The result is you do start to see taxes start to rise, but it should happen in a gradual manner — rather than in other states when you see these sharp ups and downs, ours will kind of undulate for a while. They’ll go up for two or three years – that provides more stability.

Q: Have rates increased already?

Hutchison: They did start to increase this year. They’ll go up a little bit again next year. Probably … in 2012 they’ll start to flatten out. We don’t know yet – there’s a lot to happen between now and then. In 2011 it’ll go up again a bit more.

We call them “taxes,” but for the most part it’s really an insurance system with insurance premiums. So if you’re an employer who uses the program more, you’re going to pay a higher premium than an employer who doesn’t.

But it is an insurance system, which means shared costs. Some people who don’t use it at all are going to pay some of the freight for the people who do. There is more cost shifting going on right now – the people who haven’t used it are having a larger percentage increase than those at the top.

Q: Are you hearing complaints about that? From people who haven’t laid anyone off but are seeing a large increase in their premiums?

Hutchison: You always do. No one likes taxes. Some understand the system – they’ve been with it for a long time. If you’re someone at the bottom of the system whose rate is small – less than 1 percent of payroll – you might have seen your premiums double.
There’s two parts of the rate – there’s the experience rating and then there’s the piece that’s a socialized cost. That cost-shifting component varies more frequently. Experience rated taxes are averaged out over four years. They’ll see some increase over four years rather than just in one year. But it does mean there’s more cost shifting right now to make up for the loss in the trust fund. Our system is designed to increase the socialized cost to help even that out.

Q: Let’s talk about the Unemployment Insurance changes required by federal law. What needs to happen, and when does the Legislature need to make changes?

Hutchison: The Department of Labor has been encouraging states to do what we call “modernize” the unemployment system. (more…)

Tags: economy, Thursday Q&A, unemployment, WorkSource