Another month has passed, so let’s take a look back and see what happened with Washington state’s economic condition. Things are always fluctuating, but it’s good to be aware of the trends along the way.
Here are Five Fast Facts on Washington State’s latest economic report:
- 📉 All The Jobs - The overall number of jobs in the state was down by 2,600 in November so the unemployment rate went up to 4%. The national average is 3.7%. Not far off, but still lagging a bit behind.
- ↕️ Sector This - There are 13 job industry sectors. In November four of them gained, one was unchanged, and eight of them lost jobs. Reminds me of a sound equalizer board…
- 📉 What’s Down - Professional, business, and administrative services lost big, roughly 2,600 jobs. Info services lost 1,500, and construction lost about 800 (though that’s not uncommon in the winter months). Ouch!
- 📈 What’s Up - The government and leisure sectors rose by 1,000 jobs each, and manufacturing rose by 1,400 due to hiring in aerospace products and parts. Is there a new space race going on that we didn’t know about??
- 💼 Big Picture - The total labor force – the number of people age 16 or older – was just over 4 million people. This was an overall increase of almost 1,900 potential workers from October, with the biggest gain coming in the Puget Sound region. Now let’s go get jobs for those potential workers!
🔥Bottom line: While it’s not great that we’ve ticked up to 4%, in the grand scheme of things that’s still an awfully good unemployment rate. Fluctuations are always a part of the picture, but let’s hope things nudge back around in the positive direction soon. That’s better for all our Paychecks!
What do you make of this report?
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