OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Washington state added 11,000 jobs in January as the unemployment rate in state dropped from 9.3 percent in December to 9.1 percent at the start of the year.
State officials say the 11,000 nonagricultural jobs added in January backed the strongest month of job growth in three years — the largest since November 2007, the month before the national recession began.
Employment Security Commissioner Paul Trause says that it’s unusual to have job gains in the middle of winter, calling it a “positive” sign of recovery.
The dip in the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was led by job gains in professional and business services at 5,600 jobs; 4,500 in education and health services; and 1,500 in retail trade.
Officials say that about 338,000 people in Washington were unemployed and looking for work in December.
