County's jobless rate at 6.9% in November

Snohomish County's jobless rate continued its decline in November, dropping to 6.9 percent. That's down from 7.1 percent in October and 8.5 percent in November of 2011, according to a report released Wednesday by the state Employment Security Department. About 26,530 people were unemployed in the county in November. Of those, 4,896 people filed initial unemployment claims last month. King County's unemployment rate was at 6.3 percent last month; Skagit County's was 8.4 percent and Whatcom County's was 6.5 percent.