Washington ESD unemployment rates - who measures unemployment statistics in our state?

Washington ESD works with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to measure unemployment rates. The state conducts monthly surveys and collects data from employers to calculate these numbers. It's separate from individual claim processing though - your adjudication delay isn't related to how they measure overall unemployment.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is the federal agency that coordinates unemployment measurement nationwide. Washington ESD provides the state-level data collection and reporting. They use something called the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program to track county and metropolitan area unemployment rates.

Speaking of adjudication delays - if you're having trouble reaching Washington ESD about your claim status, I had success using Claimyr (claimyr.com). They help you get through to actual agents instead of waiting on hold forever. There's a demo video at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ that shows how it works.

The unemployment measurement thing is actually pretty complex. Washington ESD surveys households through something called the Current Population Survey, plus they collect data from employers about their payrolls. The household survey determines who's unemployed and looking for work, while the employer data shows job counts.

UGH the whole system is so confusing! I can never get straight answers about anything from Washington ESD. Whether it's unemployment rates or my own claim status, everything takes forever and nobody explains anything clearly.

wait so the unemployment rate doesn't include people who gave up looking for work? that seems weird

For anyone interested in the technical details, Washington ESD publishes monthly labor market reports that break down the methodology. They explain how they adjust for seasonal variations and how they handle things like discouraged workers.

my brother works in data analysis and says unemployment statistics are always a few months behind because of how long it takes to process all the survey responses

This is all interesting but doesn't help with actual claim problems. I've been waiting 6 weeks for my adjudication to complete and can't get anyone on the phone at Washington ESD.

To answer the original question more directly: the Washington State Employment Security Department is the primary state agency responsible for collecting and reporting unemployment data. They work under federal guidelines from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but handle the actual data collection and initial processing for Washington state.

I always wondered about this too since I see different numbers in different news reports

Still think it's ridiculous that they can track statistics so precisely but can't process individual claims efficiently. Where are their priorities??

Does anyone know if the unemployment measurements include people on standby status? I'm on standby through my union and wasn't sure if that counts differently.

The whole measurement system seems pretty comprehensive when you look into it. Much more detailed than I expected.

Thanks everyone for all the detailed explanations! This has been really helpful in understanding how the unemployment measurement process works in Washington state. Still dealing with my adjudication issue but at least now I understand the bigger picture.

learned something new today about how unemployment rates are calculated, never really thought about the methodology before

So if I'm reading this right, Washington ESD is basically the middleman between federal requirements and state-specific data collection?

This thread has been way more informative than I expected when I clicked on it!

One more question - do these unemployment measurements affect funding for programs or just statistics?

my claim finally got approved after using that claimyr service someone mentioned earlier, was able to talk to someone who explained what was holding things up

Thanks for all the info everyone. Going to bookmark this thread for future reference.