Washington State’s unemployment rate edges up, area loses jobs

Washington’s unemployment rate increased slightly to 6.8 percent in February, a sign of unwanted stability for a state with one of the highest jobless rates in the nation, according to figures released yesterday by the state Employment Security Department.

"The labor market has changed little over the month of February," Employment Security Commissioner Sylvia Mundy said.

"The Washington labor market seems to be continuing a holding pattern begun in early 2002."

The rate was one-tenth of a percentage point higher than January’s revised rate, and six-tenths of a percentage point lower than in February 2002.

Oregon has the highest unemployment rate in the nation at 7.3 percent. Alaska is second at 7.0 percent.

The national rate in February was 5.8 percent, up one-tenth of a percentage point, while the Seattle area’s jobless rate dropped from 6.3 to 6.1 percent.

But those Seattle-area figures, which are adjusted for seasonal changes in the labor force to give a more accurate picture of the overall job market, need some context, said Roberta Pauer, Seattle economist with the Employment Security Department.

"The apparent piece of good news is likely misleading since it appears to represent folks dropping out of the labor force after brief stints of temporary employment in December and January," Pauer said.

The total number of jobs in the Seattle area dropped by 5,000 in February, she said.

Since September, the total number of jobs statewide had risen slowly, Pauer added, while the unemployment rate had fallen slowly.

"Those recovery signs, weak though they were, ceased in February," she said.

"While the state as a whole saw slight growth (since September), Seattle remained flat. Seattle is, of course, home to the Boeing job cuts, and is more sensitive to the weak world and national economies than the rest of the state," Pauer said.

Although the statewide unemployment rate was up only slightly in February, Pauer said what was more worrisome were the seasonally adjusted employment figures — which showed the total number of jobs in the state fell over the month by 8,200.

The biggest job losses across the state, according to Pauer, occurred in finance and insurance, local government — including school districts — and aerospace and related business.

"Employment trends in other sectors were flat in the month, no longer showing the slight growth trends that had over the previous few months been emerging," Pauer said.

The state’s highest unemployment rate was in Ferry County in northeastern Washington, at 19.1 percent, while Whitman County in southeastern Washington had the lowest at 2.6 percent. County figures are not seasonally adjusted.The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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