By MIKE BENBOW
Herald Writer
The aircraft industry in Washington state did something last month it hadn’t done in more than two years: It added jobs.
It wasn’t many, just 100, but state employment officials said it was the first such increase since the Boeing Co. began laying off workers in July 1998.
The company announced some weeks ago that employment levels had reached their targets and might increase, depending on production needs.
Despite that encouraging sign, unemployment rose a bit both in Snohomish County and throughout the state in October. Locally, it was 3.5 percent, up from 3.4 percent in September. Statewide, the number was 4.4 percent, up from 4.2 percent the previous month.
When adjusted for seasonal trends, Washington’s unemployment rate held steady at 4.7 percent. The comparable national rate was unchanged at 3.9 percent.
Employment Security Commissioner Carver Gayton said the slight uptick in idle workers was typical for September as the construction industry and some manufacturers shed workers. Jobs in summer recreation also disappeared.
Jobs increased in business services and education.
In Snohomish County, the jobless rate means that from a worker base of 342,100 people, 330,100 have jobs and 12,000 are unemployed. In Island County, where unemployment was 3.3 percent, the 28,500-member labor force had 27,500 people with jobs and 900 without.
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