OLYMPIA, Wash. – Washington’s unemployment rate improved slightly to 6.1 percent in March, the Employment Security Department reported Tuesday. The jobless rate decreased by one-tenth of a percentage point from February’s rate.
The jobless rate in Snohomish County, meanwhile, remained higher than the state average at 6.9 percent.
The state’s economy gained 20,900 net jobs over the past month. Still, the department said, about 206,300 people are unemployed.
“The first quarter of 2004 has looked pretty good,” said Kirsta Glenn, chief economist for the department, noting the state’s unemployment rate has fallen steadily since December, when it hit 7.3 percent.
“If the nation is able to create jobs in April like it did in March, we’re going to be pretty hopeful,” Glenn said.
Construction, state and local education, professional services, retail and the hospitality industry all posted big gains in March. The manufacturing sector added 500 jobs, which Glenn said was a small but significant improvement.
Washington’s jobless rate was still higher than national unemployment, which was 5.7 percent in March. Oregon’s rate remained higher than both, at 7.2 percent.
Ferry County continued to have the worst jobless rate in the state, at 18.8 percent, an increase over last month’s rate. Whitman County has the lowest unemployment rate, at 2.2 percent.
Jobless rates in metropolitan areas around the state:
Bellingham, 5.1 percent; Bremerton, 5.3; Olympia, 4.9; Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, 5.9; (King County, 5.6; Snohomish County, 6.9; Island County, 5.8); Spokane, 6.2; Tacoma, 6.7; Tri-Cities, 6.9; (Benton County, 6.2; Franklin County, 9); and Yakima, 10.6.
Also these counties: Adams, 9.6; Asotin, 7.9; Chelan, 8.6; Douglas, 7.3; Clallam, 6.1; Clark, 7.4; Columbia, 10; Cowlitz, 8.5; Ferry, 18.8; Garfield, 3.5; Grant, 10; Grays Harbor, 8.8; Jefferson, 5; Kittitas, 7.5; Klickitat, 14.9; Lewis, 8; Lincoln, 6.2; Mason, 7.4; Okanogan, 10.3; Pacific, 8; Pend Oreille, 10.5; San Juan, 4.2; Skagit, 6.6; Skamania, 10; Stevens, 10; Wahkiakum, 6.5; Walla Walla, 6.3; Whitman, 2.2.
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