Published: Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Washington sees first monthly job gains since Nov. 2008
OLYMPIA, Wash. — Washington state saw an increase in jobs in January, marking the first monthly gain in employment since November 2008.
While an estimated 12,400 jobs were added, the unemployment rate increased slightly to an estimated 9.3 percent from December’s revised rate of 9.2 percent, state officials said today.
“It’s encouraging to see jobs finally coming back,” Employment Security Commissioner Karen Lee said in an e-mailed statement. “I hope it signals the beginning of a job-full recovery, not a job-less recovery.”
December’s unemployment rate was originally reported as 9.5 percent, but it was later revised down to 9.2 percent. The highest rate in the state since the mid-1970s was in November 1982, when unemployment hit 12.2 percent.
The industries that saw the greatest job gains included retail trade, which added 3,000 jobs, educational and health services, up 2,800, and construction, which gained 2,700 jobs.
Leisure and hospitality gained 1,600 jobs, and professional and business services added 1,000, as did manufacturing. Other gains included information, up 900, wholesale trade, up 800, and aerospace and parts manufacturing, up 600.
Some industries still felt losses in January: 900 jobs were lost in transportation, warehousing and utilities, and the number of jobs in other services fell by 800.
Washington has lost nearly 108,000 jobs since January 2007, a 3.7 percent decline. Nationally, employment declined by 3.1 percent during the same time.
About 360,000 people were still looking for work in Washington in January, and more than 305,000 people received unemployment benefits.
The highest unemployment rate in the state in January was 16.2 percent in Ferry County in the northeast. Whitman County in the east had the lowest mark at 6.2 percent. The largest county, King, was at 8.8 percent.
On the Net:
Full report: bit.ly/bLQIe2
Employment Security Department: www.esd.wa.gov
While an estimated 12,400 jobs were added, the unemployment rate increased slightly to an estimated 9.3 percent from December’s revised rate of 9.2 percent, state officials said today.
“It’s encouraging to see jobs finally coming back,” Employment Security Commissioner Karen Lee said in an e-mailed statement. “I hope it signals the beginning of a job-full recovery, not a job-less recovery.”
December’s unemployment rate was originally reported as 9.5 percent, but it was later revised down to 9.2 percent. The highest rate in the state since the mid-1970s was in November 1982, when unemployment hit 12.2 percent.
The industries that saw the greatest job gains included retail trade, which added 3,000 jobs, educational and health services, up 2,800, and construction, which gained 2,700 jobs.
Leisure and hospitality gained 1,600 jobs, and professional and business services added 1,000, as did manufacturing. Other gains included information, up 900, wholesale trade, up 800, and aerospace and parts manufacturing, up 600.
Some industries still felt losses in January: 900 jobs were lost in transportation, warehousing and utilities, and the number of jobs in other services fell by 800.
Washington has lost nearly 108,000 jobs since January 2007, a 3.7 percent decline. Nationally, employment declined by 3.1 percent during the same time.
About 360,000 people were still looking for work in Washington in January, and more than 305,000 people received unemployment benefits.
The highest unemployment rate in the state in January was 16.2 percent in Ferry County in the northeast. Whitman County in the east had the lowest mark at 6.2 percent. The largest county, King, was at 8.8 percent.
On the Net:
Full report: bit.ly/bLQIe2
Employment Security Department: www.esd.wa.gov
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