The U.S Department of Labor has published the June 2012 employment statistics for the State of WA. They reported that Washington's unemployment rate was unchanged at 8.3%. For the state, this was the 4th month in 2012 with a rate of 8.3%, and is only 0.1% lower than the January 2012 rate of 8.4%. If we look a little farther into the results we see that there were about 1,000 more unemployed workers in WA in the month of June compared to July. This rise in the unemployed, however, was offset by a subsequent 3,700 person increase in the number of employed individuals, and a 4,700 person increase in the total civilian labor force in June in WA. The net effect was the static unemployment rate for the month.
On the positive side, the state's rate is still lower than the national average of 8.2% for June. Also, the Washington rate is also better from one year ago (9.3%). The 1% decrease in the WA unemployment rate translated into 30,000 fewer unemployed workers and additionally 79,000 more individuals employed in Washington in 2012. Lastly, there were roughly 48,000 more people in the total civilian work force in June 2012. The net impact is the significant improvement in the unemployment rate in Washington from 2011 to 2012.
The statistics for the industries in WA were mainly positive in June. On the plus-side were Construction, Information, Manufacturing, Construction, Information, Financial Activities, and Leisure & Hospitality. On the down-side for the month were the business sectors of Education & Health Services, Other Services, and Government.
Next we'll review the employment numbers for some of the larger metro areas in a state. For WA State these results were mainly positive in June. The City of Bellingham's June unemployment rate dropped to 7.5%. The Bremerton-Silverdale area also lowered it's rate to 7.5%. The Olympia metropolitan area also experienced a rate decrease from 7.9% to 7.7% in June. The City of Longview's rate, one of the highest in the state, also came down to 11.0% from 11.2% in May's. Lastly, the City of Yakima experienced one of the largest rate improvements in June falling 1.3% from 10.6% in May all the way to 9.3%. The big exception to this downward trend in June was the metropolitan area of Seattle-Bellevue. Its unemployment rate rose in June to 7.5% (from May's 7.1%.
Lastly, we'll see how Washington compares to other states in the Pacific Northwest Region. States with higher rates include Oregon (8.5%) and California (10.7%). Area states with lower rates than WA include Idaho (6.3%) and Montana (also at 6.3%).
We'll once again analyze the July 2012 numbers for the State of WA when they're published later this year. Always remember that employment numbers can be changed at a later time.
If you're unemployed in WA and looking for information please visit the Washington Unemployment Headquarters.
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