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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Washington’s jobless rate up in November

From Wire Reports

OLYMPIA – The unemployment rate in Washington state has increased for the third month in a row, according to the latest report released Wednesday by the state’s Employment Security Department.

The jobless rate for November was 6.2 percent, up from 6 percent in October. That increase comes despite an estimated 6,800 new jobs that were created from October to November, officials said.

State labor economist Paul Turek said the overall job increases show there’s still faith in a recovering economy.

In a written statement, Turek said “the larger trend is the steady increase in the state’s civilian workforce and continued job growth month-over-month and year-over-year.”

Since last year, Washington state has seen growth in major industries in the state, with the state adding an estimated 82,700 jobs since November 2013.

Industries that saw the biggest gains in November were construction, education and health services, and professional and business services. Government saw the biggest job losses last month, followed by the leisure and hospitality sector.

Two different surveys are used to calculate unemployment figures and job losses and gains. The unemployment rate represents the percentage of the labor force that is unemployed and actively looking for work. People who have stopped looking for work aren’t counted. The job gains and losses estimates are based on a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics survey of businesses.

Japan potato shortage leads to limit on fries

TOKYO – Only small fries with that? McDonald’s in Japan has begun limiting the serving size of fries as stocks of spuds run short due to labor disruptions on the U.S. West Coast.

McDonald’s began rationing its fries Wednesday morning. It said prolonged labor negotiations with port workers on the West Coast had made it difficult to meet demand despite an emergency airlift of 1,000 tons of spuds and another extra shipment by sea.

Gap widens between rich, rest of America

NEW YORK – There’s even more proof that the rich are getting richer while everyone else gets poorer.

In a new report, Pew Research Center said Wednesday that the gap between the nation’s wealthiest households and middle- and low-income earners is the widest it has been since the government began collecting data 30 years ago.

Pew, which analyzed Federal Reserve data, said the median wealth of upper-income families was $639,400 in 2013. Middle-income households were worth $96,500, while low-income families were worth $9,300. Pew calculated wealth by adding a family’s assets, including homes, cars and businesses, and subtracted it from debts.

To qualify as middle income, Pew said that a family of three needs to make $38,100, while to qualify as upper income, that same size family would need to earn $114,300. It adjusted that number based on the size of a family. Families of five, for example, need to earn $49,200 to be middle income and $147,600 to be considered upper income.

Upper-income families were the only ones to increase their wealth between 2010 and 2013, Pew said. The wealth of middle-income families was unchanged during that time and the wealth of low-income families fell.