Washington jobless rate approaches record low

OLYMPIA – The addition of 5,800 nonagricultural jobs helped drop Washington’s unemployment rate to 4.5 percent last month, a near record low, state economists said Tuesday.

January’s rate is one-tenth of a percentage point lower than the revised December unemployment rate of 4.6 percent, and one-tenth of a point higher than the record low set last March.

“These positive job numbers are further evidence that Washington’s economy is still healthy, despite what’s happening in other parts of the country,” Gov. Chris Gregoire said in a written statement. “These are historically low unemployment numbers.”

Industries with the largest job growth last month were retail trade, with 2,100 new jobs, financial activities, up 1,400, and education and health services, with 1,300 new jobs. The largest decline was in construction jobs, down 1,900 jobs.

Since January 2007, 61,900 net new jobs have been created in Washington, and overall, nonagricultural job growth increased by 2.1 percent, compared with a national rate increase of 0.7 percent.

Officials estimate 180,700 people in Washington are jobless and looking for work, out of a total labor force of about 3.46 million. Job openings are posted online at www.go2worksource.com.

The revision of the December unemployment rate – first reported at 4.8 percent – came after annual benchmarking, which tied payroll estimates from monthly surveys to actual payroll data from the first nine months of 2007.

Economists said 2007’s average jobless rate of 4.7 percent was the lowest since the state started keeping records in 1976. Economists typically say anything below 5 percent is textbook full employment.

The seasonally adjusted rate for the Seattle-Bellevue-Everett metro area dropped slightly to 3.7 percent last month. No comparable figure was available for Spokane.

Unemployment rates not seasonally adjusted in metropolitan areas around the state included: Bellingham, 5 percent; Bremerton, 4.9; Longview, 8; Mount Vernon-Anacortes, 5.9; Olympia, 5.1; Spokane, 6.2; Tacoma, 5.5; Tri-Cities, 6.8; Wenatchee, 7.2; and Yakima, 9.1.