The unemployment rate in the state of Washington remained at 5.8 percent last month, for the fifth month in a row, according to the state’s Employment Security Department.
Despite the steady rate, the state did add 11,200 new jobs from March to April.
“Washington’s labor market continues to expand at roughly the same pace that we add new jobs,” said Paul Turek, state labor economist. “The state’s economy continues to steadily grow with more than 100,000 new jobs since April 2015.”
According to the April job report, eight sectors saw job growth and two sectors (construction and financial activities) had job losses.
Year-over-year, the state added 102,900 new jobs and the private sector grew by 3.6 percent. Over that same time period, the public sector increased by 2.1 percent, adding 12,100 jobs.
The top four industry sectors with the largest employment gains year-over-year, not seasonally adjusted, were:
- Professional & business services (+18,700 jobs)
- Leisure & hospitality (+14,300 jobs)
- Government (+12,100 jobs)
- Construction (+11,700 jobs)
