Economic hope? State jobless rate remains steady
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - For the first time in more than a year, Washington's unemployment rate hasn't had a monthly increase, but state officials on Tuesday cautioned it doesn't mean the worst is over.
The state's jobless rate for April was an estimated 9.1 percent, the same as the revised rate for March, according to numbers released by the state Employment Security Department. March's rate was originally estimated at 9.2 percent.
The last time there wasn't a month-to-month increase was in December 2007 to January 2008.
"We don't know what the future holds, but for now it's great to see our unemployment rate holding steady," Employment Security Commissioner Karen Lee said in a prepared statement.
The state's unemployment rate is still higher than the national rate of 8.9 percent.
Mary Ayala, chief economist for the department, said that while the flattening out of the rate after months of steady increase is a good sign, "it's much too soon to assume the unemployment rate will start going down."
More than 322,000 people in Washington were unemployed and looking for work in April, with about 217,065 receiving unemployment benefits.
The number of those seeking work could soon climb.
April's rate doesn't take into account recent and expected future layoffs - including public school teachers - that are coming because of state spending cuts to help fill a $9 billion deficit through 2011.
The industries that saw the largest declines from March to April were in professional and business services, down 4,300 jobs; manufacturing, which lost 3,800 jobs; and construction, down 3,000 jobs.
Several sectors gained jobs between March and April. Government added 2,400 jobs, leisure and hospitality was up 700, financial activities gained 400 jobs, education and health services was up 200, and transportation and warehousing increased by 100 jobs.
Greg Weeks, director of the Labor Market and Economic Analysis unit at the Employment Security Department, said if some of the sectors continue to add jobs, it could offset coming layoffs.
"We have just have to wait and see," he said. "There's lots of plusses and lots of minuses across the board. It's a particularly difficult time to predict what's going to happen over the next few months."
In a prepared statement, Gov. Chris Gregoire said she was happy to see the rate stabilize and that it may be a sign that the more than $7 billion in federal stimulus money coming to the state is helping.
"Still, we remain in a deep recession and I will continue my efforts to maintain and generate thousands of new family wage jobs in the state in partnership with the Obama administration," she said.
Last year at this time, Washington's unemployment rate was 4.9 percent. The state has lost 116,100 jobs from April 2008 to April 2009, a 3.9 percent decrease, with about 43 percent of the losses occurring just since this past January.
The state's jobless rate for April was an estimated 9.1 percent, the same as the revised rate for March, according to numbers released by the state Employment Security Department. March's rate was originally estimated at 9.2 percent.
The last time there wasn't a month-to-month increase was in December 2007 to January 2008.
"We don't know what the future holds, but for now it's great to see our unemployment rate holding steady," Employment Security Commissioner Karen Lee said in a prepared statement.
The state's unemployment rate is still higher than the national rate of 8.9 percent.
Mary Ayala, chief economist for the department, said that while the flattening out of the rate after months of steady increase is a good sign, "it's much too soon to assume the unemployment rate will start going down."
More than 322,000 people in Washington were unemployed and looking for work in April, with about 217,065 receiving unemployment benefits.
The number of those seeking work could soon climb.
April's rate doesn't take into account recent and expected future layoffs - including public school teachers - that are coming because of state spending cuts to help fill a $9 billion deficit through 2011.
The industries that saw the largest declines from March to April were in professional and business services, down 4,300 jobs; manufacturing, which lost 3,800 jobs; and construction, down 3,000 jobs.
Several sectors gained jobs between March and April. Government added 2,400 jobs, leisure and hospitality was up 700, financial activities gained 400 jobs, education and health services was up 200, and transportation and warehousing increased by 100 jobs.
Greg Weeks, director of the Labor Market and Economic Analysis unit at the Employment Security Department, said if some of the sectors continue to add jobs, it could offset coming layoffs.
"We have just have to wait and see," he said. "There's lots of plusses and lots of minuses across the board. It's a particularly difficult time to predict what's going to happen over the next few months."
In a prepared statement, Gov. Chris Gregoire said she was happy to see the rate stabilize and that it may be a sign that the more than $7 billion in federal stimulus money coming to the state is helping.
"Still, we remain in a deep recession and I will continue my efforts to maintain and generate thousands of new family wage jobs in the state in partnership with the Obama administration," she said.
Last year at this time, Washington's unemployment rate was 4.9 percent. The state has lost 116,100 jobs from April 2008 to April 2009, a 3.9 percent decrease, with about 43 percent of the losses occurring just since this past January.