Washington state’s unemployment rate held steady at 5.3 percent for the month, on a preliminary, seasonally-adjusted basis, according to estimates by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The state’s unemployment rate has remained at 5.3 percent since June 2015. One year ago, the rate was 6.2 percent.
The August Monthly Employment Report from the state Employment Security Department (ESD) estimates that the state gained 1,600 new nonfarm jobs on a seasonally-adjusted basis from July 2015 to August 2015 with a gain of 900 new private sector jobs and 700 new jobs in the public sector.
“Washington continues to enjoy modest job growth with fewer individuals among the unemployed,” said Paul Turek, labor economist with ESD. “At the same time, we saw a reduction in the number of people in the labor force, which resulted in the unemployment rate holding steady at 5.3 percent.”
Year-over-year, the top five industry sectors with the largest employment gains, not seasonally-adjusted, were:
- Professional and business services with 22,100 new jobs;
- Retail trade with 17,800 new jobs;
- Construction with 12,800 new jobs;
- Leisure and hospitality with 11,800 new jobs; and
- Government with 7,400 new jobs.
