Unemployment rate drops in Seattle area - March 7, 2006

06-019

Media contacts: Greg Weeks, 360-438-4804
Hilary Young, 360-902-9454

OLYMPIA – The Washington State Employment Security Department announced today that the unemployment rate in the Seattle area dropped to 4.3 percent in January, well below the state and national rates and a decrease of 0.2 percentage points since December 2005. 

The transportation equipment manufacturing industry continued to add jobs over the month and over the year. 

The statewide unemployment rate for January also has been adjusted down another 0.1 percentage point, to 4.6 percent, based on a recalculation by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics to include the effects of Hurricane Katrina. The nationwide rate for January was 4.7 percent.

On the other end of the spectrum, Adams County saw unemployment jump to 11.4 percent for the month, a 2.1 percent increase over December.

It is not uncommon for rural counties to experience a large fluctuation in the unemployment rate from month to month. There are fewer workers, so a bad crop or a single business closure affects a larger percentage of the work force.

Unemployment and employment data for counties across the state is available online at http://www.workforceexplorer.com/cgi/dataanalysis/?PAGEID=148.

Local data is not seasonally adjusted, so it cannot be compared to the statewide data released last week.

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