The unemployment rate in Spokane County slipped to 7.8 percent in October, the lowest rate in almost two years.

The number of employed rose to 220,210, up from 216,960 in September and 218,850 in October 2009.

But Doug Tweedy, local labor economist for the Washington Employment Security Department, cautioned that the seasonal and part-time jobs captured in the October numbers do not necessarily signal a turnaround in job numbers.

Spokane statistics are not adjusted for seasonal variations.

"We're still well behind where we were in 2008," he said, noting the county lost 8,000 jobs in 2009. For the first 10 months of 2010, unemployment in the county averaged 9.3 percent.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for all of Washington was 9.1 percent, unchanged from a revised figure for September. The national rate was 9.6 percent.

The unadjusted rate for Washington was 8.5 percent. Employers added 5,900 workers. 

 

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