State's jobless rate jumps to 7.1 percent

Washington's jobs picture deteriorated alarmingly quickly in December, as thousands of people lost their jobs and the state unemployment rate took its biggest one-month jump in more than three decades.

The state jobless rate hit 7.1 percent in December, up from 6.3 percent in November. That's the highest rate since March 2004, as Washington was emerging from the post-dot-com, post-9/11 recession.

All told, 251,700 Washingtonians reported being unemployed last month, 29,200 more than in November.

Unemployment in the Seattle metro area also spiked in December, to 6.2 percent from 5.4 percent a month earlier.

The current slump has come on much quicker than in 2001-2004. As recently as September, unemployment stood at a relatively modest 5.2 percent. After outperforming the rest of the country though the first nine months of 2008, Washington now has almost caught up to the national rate of 7.2 percent.

Job declines were widespread throughout the state's economy, with virtually no industrial sector escaping. Construction shed 4,200 jobs in December; wholesalers cut 1,700; retailers were down 1,400, and financial services were off 700.

Employment services, a category that includes temporary-help agencies and often is considered a harbinger of near-term economic conditions, cut 5,700 jobs in December. Even government employment was down by 1,200, as local government cuts offset a small rise in state hiring.

Aerospace was a rare bright spot, recording a 400-job gain last month. But that may prove temporary: Boeing earlier this month said it plans to cut 4,500 workers this year, more than 3,800 of them in Washington, as the global airline business goes into yet another wrenching downturn.

Drew DeSilver: 206-464-3145 or ddesilver@seattletimes.com