OLYMPIA — Washington’s unemployment rate held steady in January at 5.1 percent even as the state lost about 7,200 jobs.
The unemployment rate in December was revised to 5.1 percent, down from the 5.2 percent originally reported by the Employment Security Department.
According to numbers released Wednesday by the ESD, private-sector and government employment each decreased by 3,600 jobs in January.
The national unemployment rate was 4.8 percent. Job gains and losses are estimates based on a survey by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate counts the percentage of people unemployed and actively looking for work but doesn’t include those who have stopped looking for work.
