OLYMPIA -- Washington's unemployment rate increased to 7.7 percent in June, the highest level since April 2002, the Employment Security department reported Tuesday.
The increase of three-tenths of a percentage point contrasts with other signs that the economy is strengthening,
Employment Security Commissioner Sylvia Mundy said.
"While some sectors are showing signs of recovery, businesses overall are not yet convinced that demand will be sufficient to justify hiring," Mundy said.
The national jobless rate increased by a similar amount to 6.4 percent. In neighboring Oregon, the unemployment rate for June was 8.5 percent, the highest in nearly 17 years.
Without seasonal adjustment, the number of jobs in Washington actually increased during June by about 11,000.
"We did see some increases, but they just weren't as large as they normally would be for this time of year," said Kirsta Glenn, the department's chief economist.
Glenn said construction, a summer staple, looks strong, but retail trade and some business services don't. The bleakest part of the state's employment picture remains manufacturing, where Boeing and other aerospace companies that once fueled the Seattle-area economy continue to struggle.
One key difference between Washington's unemployment situation and the national picture, Glenn said, was the influx of jobseekers into the market on a national level, which helped drive up the nation's rate. That influx was widely viewed as a positive sign of discouraged workers getting back in the game.
Although the state lost 700 more jobs in the struggling aerospace industry, in June, most job losses came from normal seasonal layoffs in education, which shed more than 7,000 jobs for the summer.
Normal seasonal gains continued in construction, retail trade and tourism-related fields.
Compared to June of last year, there was virtually no change in overall nonfarm employment, the department reported, although the manufacturing sector lost 20,700 jobs during the year. Construction, financial activities, education and health services, and leisure and hospitality all showed growth over the last 12 months.
The state's highest unemployment in June was in Ferry County, which reported a 15.5 percent jobless rate. The lowest rate was 2.9 percent in Whitman County.
Rates by county
Adams, 8.1; Asotin, 5.8; Chelan, 8.8; Douglas, 8.8; Clallam, 6.9; Clark, 9.9; Columbia, 6.7; Cowlitz, 10.5; Ferry, 15.5; Garfield, 3.8; Grant, 8.3; Grays Harbor, 9.6; Jefferson, 5.8; King, 7.0; Kittitas, 6.5; Klickitat, 14.4; Lewis, 9.1; Lincoln, 4.9; Mason, 8.3; Okanogan, 8.6; Pacific, 8.1; Pend Oreille, 8; San Juan, 3.5; Skagit, 7.9; Skamania, 10; Stevens, 8.9; Wahkiakum, 7.6; Walla Walla, 4.9; Whitman, 2.9.
