Bottom line is most people in Washington get somewhere between 35-50% of their previous income from unemployment. With your salary, you're probably looking at $450-600 per week, depending on your specific wage history.

Just went through this process myself last month after getting laid off from my software job. With a similar salary to yours ($4,600/month), I ended up getting $523 per week from Washington ESD. The calculation is definitely more complex than just a percentage - it really depends on your quarterly earnings pattern over the base period. One tip: make sure you have all your employment documentation ready when you file, including any contract work or side income, as that all factors into the calculation. The whole process took about 2 weeks from filing to getting my first payment.

Another thing to keep in mind - if you're still having trouble after trying the online reset, make sure you're not mixing up your old PIN with a temporary one. Sometimes when you reset it, the system gives you a temporary PIN that you have to change to a permanent one on first login. I got confused by this and kept trying to use the temporary one after I had already changed it. Check your email for any confirmation messages from ESD that might have additional instructions.

One more tip that saved me recently - if you've moved since you first filed your unemployment claim, make sure you're using the address that was on file when you originally applied, not your current address. I kept getting locked out during the PIN reset process because I was entering my new ZIP code, but the system was still expecting my old one from when I first set up the account. Once I used the original address info, the reset went through smoothly. Also, if you've changed your phone number, you might need to update that with ESD before the security questions will work properly.

The base period can definitely be confusing at first! Since you worked 8 months consistently before getting laid off in December, you're likely in good shape. Washington ESD will automatically calculate whether you meet the minimum wage requirements when you file your claim. The key thing is that you earned wages in at least 2 quarters of your base period and hit that $3,924 minimum threshold. Given that you had steady employment for 8 months, you should be fine. Don't let the gaps in your earlier work history worry you too much - they only look at the specific 4-quarter base period window. File your claim as soon as possible since you were laid off, and you'll get a monetary determination letter within a couple weeks that shows exactly what wages they found and your weekly benefit amount if you qualify.

I went through this exact same confusion when I filed my claim last year! The base period system seems really complicated at first, but once you understand it's just looking at those 4 specific quarters, it makes more sense. Since you worked steadily for 8 months before getting laid off, you should definitely meet the requirements. The employment gaps before that period won't matter at all - Washington ESD only cares about what happened during those 4 base period quarters. I'd recommend filing your claim right away since you were laid off rather than trying to calculate everything yourself. The system will do the math automatically and you'll know for sure within a couple weeks when you get your monetary determination letter.

I've been on unemployment for about 2 months and this thread has answered so many questions I didn't even know I had! The documentation requirements seemed really overwhelming at first, but reading everyone's experiences shows it's totally manageable with the right approach. I've started using a simple Google Sheet to track everything with columns for date, activity type, company/organization, contact info, and notes about follow-up needed. It takes maybe 2 minutes per activity to log but gives me so much peace of mind. One thing I learned the hard way - make sure to save confirmation emails from online applications! I applied to probably 20+ jobs in my first few weeks but didn't save the confirmations, so I had to go back through my email and browser history to reconstruct my records. Now I immediately screenshot or save every confirmation. Also want to echo what others said about Claimyr - used it once when I had an urgent question about reporting part-time work and got through to someone in about 30 minutes versus the hours I'd been trying on the regular line.

This thread has been absolutely incredible - thank you everyone for sharing such detailed and helpful information! I've been on unemployment for about a month now and was really struggling to understand what activities actually count and how to document them properly. Reading through all these real experiences has been way more helpful than trying to decipher the official Washington ESD website on my own. I'm definitely going to implement the spreadsheet backup system that several people mentioned, and I love the idea of treating job search like a structured job with dedicated hours. One question I have - I've been attending virtual networking events through my professional association, but they're more general networking rather than job-focused. Do these still count as work search activities as long as I'm making connections that could potentially lead to job opportunities? Also, has anyone had experience with whether following up on old applications (like sending a brief check-in email to HR or the hiring manager after 2-3 weeks) counts as a separate networking activity?

I'm so sorry this happened to you - what an incredibly frustrating situation! As someone who's navigated the Washington unemployment system before, I can tell you that you absolutely should qualify for benefits. Washington ESD recognizes that leaving a job to accept what you reasonably believed was secure employment constitutes "good cause" when that offer is rescinded through no fault of your own. The fact that you had a formal offer with salary details and a start date shows this was a legitimate employment opportunity, not just informal discussions. File your claim as soon as possible since you can't get retroactive benefits for weeks before filing. Make sure to save all communications about both the original offer and the rescission - emails, letters, anything in writing. During the application process, be completely honest about your employment history including the part-time retail work. Washington ESD will discover this information anyway through wage records, and being upfront helps avoid complications. You might go into adjudication for a few weeks while they review your case, but based on your circumstances, approval seems very likely. Don't let this experience discourage you - you made a reasonable decision based on the information you had, and that's exactly what unemployment insurance is designed to protect against.

I'm really sorry you're going through this - having a job offer rescinded after you've already made major life decisions around it is incredibly stressful. But you should definitely be eligible for unemployment benefits in Washington. The state considers it "good cause" to leave employment when you're accepting another position that then falls through due to circumstances beyond your control. Since you had a formal offer with all the details (salary, benefits, start date), this clearly wasn't just preliminary discussions but a legitimate job commitment from the company. Make sure to document everything - save the original offer, the rescission email, your resignation notice from the retail job, and create a timeline of events with dates. File your claim online as soon as possible since benefits can't be backdated to before you file. Be completely transparent about all your employment history including the part-time retail work. The case will likely go into adjudication for review, but given your circumstances, Washington ESD should approve it. This is exactly the type of situation unemployment insurance exists to protect workers from.