FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Jan. 17, 2024

Contact:   media@esd.wa.gov    

Payroll employment increased in December; unemployment rate rose to 4.2%

OLYMPIA – Washington’s economy gained an estimated 7,700 jobs (seasonally adjusted) and the monthly unemployment rate rose from 4.0% to 4.2% in December.

“December’s job growth was the strongest since June 2023 and marked five consecutive months of job growth, after revisions to November data. Despite strong job gains, the unemployment rate inched up from 4.0% to 4.2%,” said Employment Security Department (ESD) Chief Labor Economist Anneliese Vance-Sherman. “The overall trend in 2023 has been the slowing of a still-strong labor market after the tumultuous ups and downs of COVID-19 economic recovery.”

Visit ESD’s website to view the entire Monthly Employment Report for December.

ESD paid unemployment insurance benefits to 68,170 people in December, an increase of 6,344 paid claims over the previous month. Seasonal increases in paid claims within agriculture, construction, and manufacturing contributed to the overall increase in claims.

Updated state preliminary data for November 2023

• The preliminary estimated loss of 2,600 jobs was revised upward to a gain of 300 jobs.
• The seasonally adjusted monthly unemployment rate was confirmed at 4.0%.

National unemployment rate
The national unemployment rate remained constant at 3.7% in December. For comparison, the national unemployment rate (revised) for December 2022 was 3.5%.

Labor force showed little change
The state’s labor force in December numbered 4,059,627 – an increase of 1,907 people from the previous month.

In the Seattle/Bellevue/Everett region, the labor force increased by seven people over the same period.

Labor force is defined as the total number of people, both employed and unemployed, over the age of 16. Layoffs and labor force participation are not necessarily connected. When people are laid off but still seeking work, they remain a part of the labor force. A drop in the labor force means people have left work and haven't been actively seeking employment for more than four weeks.

From December 2022 to December 2023, the state’s labor force increased by 44,341, while the labor force in the Seattle/Bellevue/Everett region increased by 39,682 over the same period.

From November to December 2023, the number of people who were unemployed statewide increased from 161,573 to 170,380. In the Seattle/Bellevue/Everett region, the number of people who were unemployed increased from 64,745 to 66,198 over the same period.

Nine major industry sectors continued to add jobs and four shed jobs in December
Private sector employment increased by 6,600 jobs from November to December while government employment increased by 1,100 jobs.

Of the industry sectors, in December:

• Nine expanded.
• Four contracted.

Here are some key increases and decreases:

• The largest gains were observed in leisure and hospitality (up 2,600), largely attributable to hiring by restaurants and bars.
• Employment in professional and business services expanded by 1,700, with the largest gains in professional, scientific and technical services. Employment services dropped by 600.
• Manufacturing employment received a boost from aerospace industry employment (up 400) and food manufacturing (up 300).
• The construction sector experienced the deepest one-month losses in December. Despite increasing employment in construction of buildings (up 800) and heavy and civil engineering (up 200), specialty trade contractors shed 1,700 jobs.
• Employment in retail trade decreased by 600 overall. The deepest losses were observed in other retail trade (-1,000).
• Transportation, warehousing and utilities dropped 600 jobs in December.

Annual employment growth most evident in government; and education and health services
Washington gained an estimated 54,200 jobs from December 2022 to December 2023, not seasonally adjusted. Private sector employment rose by 1.2%, up an estimated 34,800 jobs, while public sector employment rose by 3.4% — up an estimated 19,400 jobs.

From December 2022 – December 2023, nine major industry sectors expanded, three decreased and one was unchanged
The three industry sectors with the largest employment gains year over year, not seasonally adjusted, were:

• Government, up 19,400 jobs.
• Education and health services, up 18,700 jobs.
• Leisure and hospitality, up 15,500 jobs.

The two industry sectors with the largest employment losses year over year, not seasonally adjusted, were:

• Construction, down 8,800 jobs.
• Information, down 5,300 jobs.

Table 1: Washington’s total jobs

*Revised from previous preliminary estimates. Preliminary monthly estimates for job losses or gains are based
on a small Bureau of Labor Statistics payroll survey. Actual figures reported the following month are based on
a more complete survey.        

Table 2: Job gains and losses by industry for December

Labor market information

See more labor market information and tools, including interactive Tableau graphics, to highlight popular information and data.

WorkSource

Employment Security is a proud partner in the statewide WorkSource system, which provides employment and training assistance to job seekers and businesses. WorkSourceWA provides access to thousands of Washington jobs and other employment resources. WorkSource staff can connect job seekers with employers hiring right now in their community, identify training opportunities or help them brush up on application and interview skills. Job seekers and employers can find their nearest WorkSource center on the WorkSource office locator page.

Learn more about ESD’s monthly employment reports
Every month, the Employment Security Department publishes preliminary seasonally adjusted estimates for the prior month’s job growth and unemployment. We also publish confirmed data for the month before last. See the entire Monthly Employment Report on our website.

Monthly Employment Report publication schedule for 2023

U-6 unemployment rate

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) updated its “alternative measures of labor underutilization” for states to include annual averages for 2021. One such alternative measure is the U-6 rate, which considers not only the unemployed population in the official “U-3” unemployment rate, but also marginally attached workers and those employed part time for economic reasons. The U-6 rate is defined by BLS as the “total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers.” This U-6 measure measures the “unemployed, underemployed, and those who are not looking but who want a job.”

The U-6 annual average unemployment rate for the four-quarter period through third quarter 2023 for Washington state was 7.5 percent. This was above the 7.3 percent average for the four-quarter period through second quarter 2023.  The U.S. U-6 average for the four-quarter period through third quarter 2023 was 6.8 percent.

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Web links

• Monthly employment report 
• Labor market information website
• Historical data
• Employment Security website

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