Unemployment in WA reaches highest rate since 2021

Washington’s unemployment rate ticked up to 5% in January, according to the latest data from the state’s Employment Security Department.

Though relatively low in historic terms, it’s the highest rate reported since 2021, and continues a trend of rising unemployment the state has seen over the past year.

“We're seeing job postings as a whole kind of quieting, "said Anneliese Vance-Sherman, chief labor economist for the Employment Security Department. "And when we look at the month-to-month employment numbers, both have been slowing substantially — both at a national and local level — so there's less movement in the labor market.”

Though there are signs of an overall weakening labor market, Washington’s unemployment is outpacing the nation. The national rate was 4.3% in January.

Despite rising unemployment, Washington’s economy still added about 2,800 seasonally adjusted jobs, primarily in education and health services.

The year also started with mass layoffs across Washington’s tech industry, which have continued at a slower trickle during the first quarter. This week, Oracle announced 491 layoffs in Washington, while Meta notified the state of plans to cut 168 jobs. Both were part of larger nationwide layoffs.

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But Vance-Sherman cautioned against blaming tech for rising unemployment across Washington because the sector is also adding jobs in key strategic areas.

“ This is essentially no change over the year,” she said. “So these are sectors that have gone from extremely high growth to a period of overall decreasing employment. And more or less, it flattened out since then. So I would classify them as very little growth.”