State's jobless rate climbs to 7.8% in January

Unemployment in Washington state jumped to an estimated 7.8 percent last month, from 7.1 percent in December, as nearly all business sectors cut jobs.

It was the second big increase in a row for the state's jobless rate, which stood at 6.3 percent as recently as November — another indication of the rapidly deteriorating economy.

January's unemployment rate topped the national rate for the first time since December 2006. An estimated 303,570 Washingtonians — the most ever — reported being out of work last month.

In the Seattle metro area, unemployment rose from 6.3 percent in December to an estimated 6.8 percent last month.

The unemployment numbers, reported by the state Employment Security Department today, are considered preliminary estimates. Delays in implementing a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics computer system that all states, including Washington, use to calculate local unemployment figures have slowed the supply of data to the states.

Nonfarm payrolls, which are determined separately from the unemployment rate and often are considered a more reliable indicator, dropped by a seasonally adjusted 7,000 positions last month and now are 56,000 jobs below the level of a year ago.

Manufacturing accounted for the bulk of the payroll-job losses. Some of the biggest cuts came in computer and electronic product manufacturing (500 jobs), aerospace (300 jobs), papermaking (900 jobs), and food processing (600 jobs).

Construction, one of the hardest-hit sectors in the current recession, lost 2,400 more jobs last month; over the past year the construction industry has shed 20,700 jobs.

But the declines were widespread in the service sector as well. Truck transportation fell by 1,300 jobs, auto dealerships lost 1,400, and computer-systems design was off by 1,000 jobs.

Two bright spots were state government, which gained 5,900 jobs last month (mostly in educational services), and real estate and rental leasing, up by 800 jobs.

Drew DeSilver: 206-464-3145 or ddesilver@seattletimes.com