Jobless rate in Washington drops to 7 percent, down slightly from month before
The state AP office provided Wednesday's update on April's Washington state jobless rates.
Washington state’s unemployment rate dropped to 7 percent in April, and the state added an estimated 3,800 jobs last month, according to data from the state Employment Security Department.
The March jobless rate for the state was 7.3 percent.
The state has now regained about 78 percent of the more than 200,000 jobs lost during the recession, according to ESD numbers.
The state “labor market is continuing to improve at a moderate but accelerating rate, somewhat faster than the nation,” Scott Bailey, a labor economist for Employment Security, said in a written statement.
The national unemployment rate for April was 7.5 percent.
Spokane County and other individual county unemployment rates will be reported next week.
Since April 2012, when Washington state’s unemployment rate was 8.4 percent, the state has gained a total of 67,200 jobs.
The latest figures show that economists significantly revised job loss numbers for March from an initial estimate of 5,500 down to 1,600 jobs.
Industries that saw the greatest job gains in April included retail trade, up 3,800 jobs; leisure and hospitality, up 1,600 jobs; and professional and business services, which gained 1,500 jobs.
Job losses were seen in education and health services, which lost 2,500 jobs; construction, down 1,100; and transportation, warehousing and utilities, which lost 500 jobs. Wholesale trade saw a decrease of 300 jobs.