EVERETT — Unemployment in Snohomish County fell by half a percentage point between October and November, from 4.5% to 4%, preliminary reports from the Employment Security Department show.
Those numbers aren’t adjusted for regular seasonal changes in employment levels, but it represents a bounce back after unemployment rates rose slightly in October.
In November 2023, unemployment in Snohomish County was at only 3.6%. Over the past year, unemployment rates rose to a high of 4.9% in July and have declined since.
October’s relatively high unemployment rate of 4.5% bucked a downward trend. This was partly due to the strike by 17,000 Boeing machinists, according to a report from the state Employment Security Department’s chief labor economist, Anneliese Vance-Sherman. The strike coming to an end likely aided the half-percent drop in unemployment between October and November.
At 4%, Snohomish County has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the state. King County has the lowest at 3.8%. Ferry County, in eastern Washington, has the highest at 8.3%.
Statewide, seasonally adjusted unemployment decreased by 0.1%, from 4.7% in October to 4.6% in November. Last November, the rate was 4%. Seasonally adjusted unemployment rates take into account yearly boosts in certain industries, like holiday increases to the retail sector and losses in construction work. Unadjusted unemployment rates typically fare better in the warmer months.
Washington’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is above the national average, which sits at 4.2%.
Sectors like arts, entertainment and recreation saw some of the biggest gains in seasonally adjusted employment rates from October to November, gaining about 3,600 jobs statewide. Retail trade, construction and wholesale trade saw some of the most losses.
Over 18,000 people in the county’s workforce are currently without a job. Snohomish County’s labor force totals 467,060.
Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.
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