Washington’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 5.5 percent in June, up from May’s rate of 5.3 percent.
According to the state Employment Security Department’s Caitlin Cormier, demand rose as the number of non-agricultural jobs remained unchanged from May.
Caitlin Cormier, spokesperson, comments?
The total number of non-agricultural jobs in Washington in June was up 32,800 over the same time in 2007, a 1.1 percent increase. Nationally, year-over-year job growth for the past year was 0.01 percent.
Industries in Washington with the largest job growth in June were manufacturing, and leisure and hospitality. The largest declines were in construction, financial activities, and government.
Asotin County reported 4.9 percent unemployment for June; Garfield County 5.6 percent; and Whitman County 5.8 percent.
More than one in five job vacancies in Washington in April were in the health-care industry, according to the newest job-vacancy report published by the Employment Security Department.
Department spokesperson Caitlin Cormier says the Spring 2008 Washington Job Vacancy Survey report found that there were more than 16,000 health-care job openings out of an estimated 74,700 unfilled jobs statewide.
Caitlin Cormier, spokesperson, comments
Among the health-care vacancies, 4,300 were for registered nurses. There also were a lot of openings for licensed practical and vocational nurses, nursing aides, orderlies and attendants.
Retail sales ranked second in the number of job openings, with 2,800 vacancies, followed by food preparers and servers.
Statewide, the number of job openings across all professions was about fifteen percent lower this spring than it was a year earlier.
For the first time in over a year-and-a-half, Washington’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has risen above 5 percent.
According to the state Employment Security Department, the unemployment rate was 5.3 percent in May, up from April’s rate of 4.7 percent.
The rise in unemployment was accompanied by a decline of 2,600 non-agricultural jobs, although on an annual basis, the total number of non-farm jobs in Washington was up 38,200, a 1.3 percent increase over the same time in 2007. ESD spokesperson Caitlin Cormier says that compares favorably to the past year’s national job growth rate of 0.2 percent.
Caitlin Cormier, ESD spokesperson, comments
Industries in Washington with the largest job growth in May were professional business services and information. The biggest declines were in retail, education and health services, and government.
Asotin County reported 5.1 percent unemployment; Garfield County 4.9 percent; and Whitman County 4.2 percent.
Washington’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell by two-tenths of a point to 4.7 percent in April.
The drop in unemployment was accompanied by a decline of 1,800 non-agricultural jobs.However, state Employment Security Department spokesperson Caitlin Cormier says the total number of non-agricultural jobs in Washington was 46,300 higher than the same time in 2007.
Industries in Washington with the largest job growth in April were government, with 600 new jobs, mostly in colleges, prisons and human services, and professional business services, with 500 new jobs.The largest declines were in retail, transportation, warehousing and utilities, and information.
Asotin County reported 6.8 percent unemployment; Garfield County 4.5 percent; and Whitman County 3.7 percent.
