OLYMPIA, Wash. – Unemployment payments are going up following a big jump in the state’s average wage.
The Employment Security Department says the average annual wage rose more than 10% last year to almost $77,000.
That was a record increase.
Employment Security spokesman Paul Turek says it was due to an interesting phenomenon.
The lower wages paid to many who were laid off during the pandemic were left out of the equation, resulting in the big increase.
Unemployment benefits are paid at 20% of the average annual wage, so minimum weekly benefits for claims made after July 4th will increase $94 to $295.