What was unemployment rate during Trump years - how does it affect Washington ESD benefits?

The national unemployment rate doesn't directly affect your Washington ESD benefit amount. Your weekly benefit amount is calculated based on your earnings history in Washington state over the past 18 months. The maximum weekly benefit amount in Washington is currently $999, so if you're only getting $362 you might want to check if all your wages were reported correctly.

unemployment rates don't affect individual benefit amounts but they can affect how long you can collect benefits. during high unemployment periods washington sometimes extends benefits beyond the standard 26 weeks. right now we're back to the regular 26 week limit

If you're having trouble getting through to Washington ESD to ask about your benefit calculation, I had success using Claimyr.com. They help you get connected to an actual agent instead of waiting on hold forever. There's a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ that shows how it works. I was able to get my wage issue resolved in one call after weeks of trying on my own.

The unemployment rate during Trump's presidency started around 4.7% in January 2017 and dropped to about 3.5% by early 2020 before COVID hit. But like others said this doesn't directly impact your personal benefit amount - that's based on your individual wage history.

THIS IS SO CONFUSING!!! I thought if fewer people were unemployed it meant less money to go around for benefits. Washington ESD needs to explain this better on their website.

wait im getting confused about the connection between national unemployment and state benefits. does washington follow federal guidelines or make their own rules?

Federal policies can affect things like extended benefits during recessions or special programs like the pandemic unemployment assistance, but your regular state unemployment benefits are calculated the same way regardless of who's president.

I collected unemployment during both Obama and Trump years and the process was basically the same. Had to file weekly claims, do job searches, report any work. The only difference was during COVID when they temporarily waived the job search requirement.

Just to circle back to the original question - if you're concerned about your benefit amount being too low, definitely call Washington ESD to verify they have all your wage information. Like I mentioned before, Claimyr can help you get through to an agent if you're having trouble with the phone system.

for what its worth, $362 a week isn't necessarily low if your wages were low or if you didn't work much in the base period. the formula is complicated but basically you get about half of what you were earning on average

To put the unemployment rates in perspective: Trump's presidency saw unemployment drop from 4.7% to 3.5% (pre-COVID), which was historically low. But again, this doesn't change how Washington calculates individual benefits.

OK so basically the unemployment rate is just a statistic and doesn't affect my personal benefits. Got it. I was overthinking this whole thing.

This thread has been super helpful. I was also confused about how unemployment rates worked but now I understand it's all about individual wage history for benefit calculations.

Glad this helped clear things up. Just remember if you need to talk to Washington ESD about your specific situation, services like Claimyr can save you hours of calling and waiting. The phone system is still pretty backed up even though unemployment is lower now.

final thought - even though unemployment rates don't affect your benefit amount, they can affect how easy it is to find work and meet your job search requirements. when unemployment is low there are usually more jobs available

thanks everyone for explaining this. i was also confused but now i get it. unemployment rate = big picture economy stuff. my benefits = my personal wage history. simple enough

Update: I'm going to call Washington ESD tomorrow to check on my wage records. If I can't get through I'll try that Claimyr service someone mentioned. Thanks for all the help!