Washington jobless rate notches back up to 9.3%

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Washington’s jobless rate is turning back up, reaching 9.3 percent in July after falling to as low as 9.1 percent earlier this year. The Employment Security Department said today that the unemployment rate has failed to go down despite 11 consecutive months of job growth. July recorded an increase of 5,700 jobs, but officials believe the state would have to add roughly 6,000 jobs a month for a year to reduce the unemployment rate by 1 percentage point. The July unemployment rate was technically unchanged from June. That month’s figure was revised upward Wednesday from 9.2 percent to 9.3 percent. The rate was as high as 10 percent in February 2010. It hasn’t been at 9 percent or less in more than two years.