Jobless rates fall in state, county

Washington state and Spokane County both saw their unemployment rates drop in March as new jobs in construction and service areas continued to be added, state officials said Tuesday.

The state’s March jobless rate was 5.7 percent, compared with 6.4 percent in February.

Spokane’s March jobless rate was 6.0 percent, down from 7.0 percent in February, state officials said.

Over the past 12 months, the state has gained 55,300 jobs. In that same period, Spokane has seen a net gain of 3,000 jobs.

Over the past month, Washington’s biggest job gains occurred in construction (up 4,500 jobs), leisure-hospitality (up 4,600) and in professional and business services (up 4,000).

During March, Spokane County’s largest industry gains occurred in construction (up 600 jobs from the month before) and professional and business services (up 300).

Data released Tuesday by the Olympia office of the Employment Security Department showed only one Spokane County industry sector lost jobs in March compared with the previous month. That occurred in information services, which lost 100 jobs, employing 2,800 in the county in March.

Also notable is that Spokane County’s total manufacturing jobs stayed exactly the same as one year earlier, at 16,900 positions, according to state data.

Over the past year, Spokane’s largest industry gains came in trade, transportation and utilities (up 1,200 jobs) and health and social assistance (also up 1,200).

For the past year, Washington state’s largest job increases, by industry, were in professional/business services (up 11,900).