Washington’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 9.3 percent in October, from a revised rate of 9.1 percent in September.
The state Employment Security Department’s Jamie Swift says Washington lost an estimated 5,100 non-agricultural jobs in October, though there are positive signs that the economy is slowly recovering.
Employment Security Department’s Jamie Swift comments
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Leisure and hospitality was the industry with the largest decline in October, with declines also reported across the board – manufacturing, retail trade, aerospace product and parts manufacturing, transportation, warehousing and utilities, professional business services and construction.
The biggest jump came in the government sector, while jobs were also gained in information, financial activities, education and health services, and wholesale trade.
Asotin County reported 8.8 percent unemployment; Whitman County, 4.4 percent; and Garfield County, 5.2 percent.
Washington had 120,000 fewer jobs last month than in October 2008, a 4.1 percent decrease. Nearly 229-thousand people received unemployment benefits from Washington state that month.
