Snohomish County jobless rate remains at 10.5 percent

EVERETT — Snohomish County's jobless rate stayed at 10.5 percent in February, the same as the previous month, the state Employment Security Department said Tuesday.

The rate didn't change despite the loss of 600 aerospace jobs, part of a cutback by the Boeing Co. that began in 2009. Most other sectors stayed relatively stagnant, but the county still lost nearly 1,000 jobs in February, according to employment security officials.

Statewide, the unemployment rate rose to 9.5 percent in February from 9.3 percent in January. The national jobless rate for February was 9.7 percent.

In January, the state gained jobs for the first time in months. But the trend didn't continue in February, when the state lost 8,300 jobs.

“We took a couple steps forward in January and one step back in February,” said Karen Lee, state employment security commissioner. “The path into the recession was steep but, as we're seeing, the climb back will be more gradual.”

Sheryl Hutchison, spokeswoman for the Employment Security Department, said February marked the two-year anniversary of the beginning of the recession and job losses in the state.

The 9.5 percent statewide unemployment rate was the state's highest since 1984, officials said. Initially, December's rate was listed at 9.5 percent, but it was later revised down to 9.2 percent.

Arun Raha, the state's chief economist, said he expects unemployment in Washington to peak at about 9.8 percent in the spring.

Raha said employment this year will be affected by the hiring of temporary workers for the 2010 Census, “which will add thousands of new jobs through May and then subtract thousands through the rest of the year.”



The Associated Press contributed to this report.