The economy is still humming in Washington state, thanks in part to booming technology companies like Amazon, Tableau, Zillow and F5 Networks. But even so, the unemployment rate inched up during the month of September, clocking in at 5.9 percent.
That was up slightly from 5.7 percent in August. The increase comes after eight straight months of job growth.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate in Seattle — where most of the high-growth tech companies are based — came in at just 4.8 percent. That was the same as in August.
“While job growth has moderated a bit since the beginning of the summer, Washington is still on pace to deliver the best overall job growth since 2005,”said Paul Turek, an economist with the department.