Washington jobless rate jumps to 7.8%

Washington’s unemployment rate jumped to 7.8 percent in January from 7.1 percent in December, the state’s Employment Security Department reported Tuesday, in another sign of the deepening recession.

In January, an estimated 303,570 people were jobless and looking for work in Washington – the largest number ever in the state.

“These are rough times for the unemployed, but it’s also an opportunity to get some training for a new career,” said Employment Security Commissioner Karen Lee.

The biggest declines were seen in manufacturing, information services, construction, motor vehicles and parts dealers, and truck transportation.

Washington's January unemployment rate of 7.8 percent was higher than the national unemployment rate of 7.6 percent. Washington's jobless rate was up significantly from a year ago, when it was 4.5 percent.

In the Seattle/Bellevue/Everett area, the unemployment rate was 6.8 percent, up from 6.2 percent in December. In January 2008, the Seattle area's jobless rate was 3.7 percent.

Pierce County had 9.1 percent unemployment rate in January, Snohomish County was 8.5 percent, and King County was 6.7 percent. Spokane County had 9.6 percent unemployment rate.

The state lost an estimated 7,000 seasonally adjusted nonfarm jobs in January.

The Employment Security Department characterized the January unemployment numbers as a preliminary estimate. The department normally receives unemployment data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, but the January data was delayed due to a computer project. Employment Security said it generated its own January data using a “computer model that historically has closely matched the official number.”