Washington state’s unemployment rate fell to 8.2 percent during October as 9,600 private sector jobs were added. That compares to an unemployment rate of 8.9 percent during the same period last year.
The state’s jobless rate still sits above the seasonally adjusted numbers for the nation as a whole, with preliminary numbers coming in at 7.9 percent for the U.S. That’s down from 8.9 percent in October 2011.
The information category, where a number of tech jobs get classified, saw a modest increase in jobs (increasing by 300 on a month-to-month basis). Retail trade (3,300 jobs), professional and business services (1,900 jobs) and financial (1,800 jobs) led the way during the month of October.
Interestingly, despite the rapid hiring by companies such as Amazon, Facebook, Tableau and many others in the tech sector, the information category is essentially flat on the year in terms of number of jobs added.
Leisure and hospitality took the biggest hit, down 1,700 jobs during the month. Despite those losses, the state’s chief labor economist, Joe Elling, noted that the “overall direction is positive.”
Here’s the full report:
