WA jobless rate jumps to 5.3 percent

Washington's unemployment rate jumped to 5.3 percent last month, the first time in nearly two years that it's been higher than 5 percent.

The numbers, released Tuesday, are a significant increase over April's rate of 4.7 percent, but still below the national average of 5.5 percent.

"It's obviously a big jump in the numbers," said Dave Wallace, acting chief economist for the Employment Security Department. "But if you look at the historical rate, we're not doing terrible. We are going through hard times. But it's important to keep perspective."

The monthly average since 1976 has been 6.9 percent, and the state has been running below average for a while, Wallace said.

The highest unemployment rate in the state was in November 1982, when it was 12.2 percent. The lowest rate was 4.4 percent in March and April of 2007. The last time it was 5.3 percent or higher was in October 2005, when it was 5.4 percent, according to the Employment Security Department.

The rise in unemployment was accompanied by a decline of roughly 2,600 nonagricultural jobs in May, the Employment Security Department said.

The total number of nonagricultural jobs in Washington was up 38,200, a 1.3 percent increase over the same time last year. Nationally, job growth for the past year was 0.2 percent.

Officials estimate that more than 176,060 people are unemployed and seeking work in Washington.

"The nation's economic downturn is finally catching up with us, but we are still doing better than a lot of the country," Employment Security Commissioner Karen Lee said in a statement.

Industries with the largest job growth in the state were professional business services, with 1,200 new jobs, and information, with 500 new jobs. The largest declines were in retail, which lost 1,100 jobs; education and health services, down 700 jobs; and government, also down 700.

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On the Net:

Full report - http://www.workforceexplorer.com/cgi/dataanalysis/?PAGEID148

Employment Security Department: http://fortress.wa.gov/esd/portal/

Job openings: http://www.go2worksource.com.