Spokane County’s jobless rate increases

The loss of nearly 400 jobs lifted Spokane County’s unemployment rate to 8.7 percent in November from a revised rate for October of 8 percent, Washington’s Employment Security Department said today. The statewide rate rose to 9.1 percent, although the seasonally adjusted number eased slightly to 9.2 percent from 9.3 percent. The national rate was 10 percent. There are no seasonally adjusted figures for Spokane. The job losses for November followed a gain of more than 3,000 from September to October. The October unemployment rate was initially reported at 7.9 percent, but revised job numbers came in 50 below original estimates. In November, 221,980 were employed in the county, 21,280 were unemployed. The job total is down 7,400 from November 2008. Year over year, Washington shed 125,600 jobs, a decrease of 4.3 percent.