WA unemployment rate at 5.5%
OLYMPIA -- Washington's statewide unemployment rate fell to 5.5 percent in April, which is almost the same as the national average of 5.4 percent.
But in the booming Seattle/Bellevue/Everett region, it's down to 4.3 percent, the preliminary monthly jobs report from the Employment Security Department says.
Leading the jobs growth among the state's major industries from April 2014 to this April was construction, which added 19,500 jobs. Professional and business services added 18,800 jobs, education and health services 13,200 jobs, retail trade 13,200 jobs and government 12,400 jobs.
The last time the statewide unemployment rate was this low was the summer of 2008, before the state slid into the recession. The numbers confirm what legislators and state economists said earlier this week when accepting the economic and revenue forecast, that the metropolitan Puget Sound is rebounding at a much faster rate than the rest of the state.
