After two record-setting years, the number of people receiving unemployment benefits – and the amount they received – shrank in 2011.

An estimated 440,000 people received benefits in 2011, a 12 percent drop from the all-time record of 503,000 in 2010.  In 2009, 470,231 individuals collected jobless benefits.

Benefit payouts will total about $3.2 billion this year, compared to $4.6 billion in 2010 and $4 billion in 2009.  More than 54 percent of the 2011 payouts were covered by federal funds, with 46 percent coming from the state’s benefits fund.

Overall, the average length of time Washington workers collected unemployment benefits declined from 42.2 weeks in 2010 to about 36.2 weeks near the end of 2011.

“Some of the decline is due to an improved economy, and some of it is due to unemployed workers simply running out of benefits,” said Employment Security Commissioner Paul Trause.

By the end of December, about 70,000 workers will have exhausted all of their unemployment benefits, the most ever during a period when extended benefits were in effect.

“From a workload standpoint, we still had the third-highest number of benefit recipients and payouts ever,” Trause said.

Despite the persistently large claims load, Employment Security’s budget is dropping by 16 percent in the July 2011-June 2013 budget period, forcing the agency to initiate its largest layoff in six years.  By the end of January, the department will have shed more than 500 positions, with more layoffs expected next summer.

Other notable 2011 facts and figures from Employment Security include the following.

• A first-in-the-nation survey last spring found that only 25 percent of Washington workers who had run out of unemployment benefits had found new jobs. Four-fifths of them were earning an average of 29 percent less than before they were laid off.
• Washington’s jobless rate remained relatively flat in 2011, at around 9.1 or 9.2 percent for most of year, dropping to an estimated 8.7 percent in November – the lowest unemployment rate since February 2009.
• Through November, the state had regained an estimated 69,800 of the 205,300 jobs that were lost in the recession.  The private sector has added an estimated 78,600 of those jobs, while government employment has declined by 8,800.
• The governor and state legislature cut businesses’ unemployment taxes by more than $300 million in 2011.  They will drop by another $207 million in 2012, without harming the health of the state’s benefits fund.  By contrast, most other states are increasing unemployment taxes and/or cutting benefits to help their systems recover from the recession.
• Washington’s WorkSource system provided free employment and training services to about 331,000 job seekers statewide.  That number is down for the second consecutive year, from 376,000 in 2010 and 391,000 in 2009.
• WorkSource also provided worker recruitment and screening services to more than 15,600 employers for nearly 76,000 job openings.  Employers self-listed an additional 200,000 jobs on the system’s website: go2worksource.com.
• WorkSource provided specialized employment services to nearly 32,000 military veterans.
• Participation remained high in the state’s layoff-avoidance program called Shared Work.  Some 3,100 employers reduced their payroll costs and avoided layoffs by enrolling 36,000 workers in the program in 2011.
• A record 53,500 volunteers gave nearly 500,000 hours of public service to local communities through the department’sWashington Service Corps.  They tutored and mentored young people, built and rehabilitated homes, responded to natural disasters, and helped the disabled and elderly maintain their independence.