October 2024 Monthly Employment Report

State unemployment rate dips in October despite job losses

OLYMPIA – Washington’s economy lost an estimated 35,900 jobs (seasonally adjusted) in October even as the monthly unemployment rate decreased slightly to 4.7%. 

“October shows an unusually high drop in jobs, unlike the relatively small changes over the past several months,” said Anneliese Vance-Sherman, chief labor economist for the Employment Security Department. “This is largely a reflection of the now-resolved strike by Boeing machinists.” 

Aerospace employment dropped by 31,000 in October. Despite these changes, the unemployment rate dipped only slightly. 

The manufacturing, leisure and hospitality, and other services industries experienced the largest job losses from September to October. Government, education and health services, and information led statewide employment growth during that same time. 

The unemployment rate has hovered between 4.7% to 4.9% since March 2024. For comparison, the unemployment rate stood at 3.8% in October 2023. 

Employment Security paid unemployment benefits to 57,057 people in October, an increase of 3,143 over the previous month. Increases in paid claims in these industries helped contribute to the increase: 

• Manufacturing. 

• Construction. 

Visit Employment Security’s website to view the entire Monthly Employment Report for October 2024. 

Updated state preliminary data for September 2024 

• The preliminary estimated loss of 2,000 jobs was revised to a loss of 2,800. 

• The seasonally adjusted monthly unemployment rate remained at 4.8%. 

National unemployment rate 

The national unemployment rate remained at 4.1% from September to October. For comparison, the national unemployment rate (revised) for October 2023 was 3.8%. 

Labor force showed little change 

From September to October 2024, the number of people who were unemployed statewide decreased slightly from 190,150 to 187,951. In the Seattle/Bellevue/Everett region, the number of people who were unemployed decreased from 77,689 to 77,171 over the same period. 

The state’s labor force in October stood at 3,995,931 – a decrease of 6,924 people from the previous month. In the Seattle/Bellevue/Everett region, the labor force increased by 7,129 people during the same period. 

Labor force is defined as the total number of people, both employed and unemployed, over the age of 16. Layoffs and labor force participation are not necessarily connected. When people are laid off but still seeking work, they remain a part of the labor force. A drop in the labor force means people have left work and haven't been actively seeking employment for more than four weeks. 

Four major industry sectors expanded, seven contracted from September to October 

Private sector employment decreased by 38,300 jobs from September to October. Government employment increased by 2,400 during that same time. 

The largest sector-level gains in private industry were in education and health services (up 1,800 jobs), information (up 500) and business services (up 300 jobs). 

• The highest one-month gains in education and health services were in ambulatory health care services (up 2,600 jobs) and private educational services (up 1,300 jobs). 

• The deepest one-month sector losses were in manufacturing (down 31,000). This reflects the machinists strike at the Boeing Company. 

Seven sectors saw decreases in employment: manufacturing (down 31,000); leisure and hospitality (down 5,400); other services (down 1,500); transportation, warehousing and utilities (down 1,200); construction (down 800); wholesale trade (down 600); and retail trade (down 400). 

Annual employment growth appears in public industries, falls in private industries 

Washington gained an estimated 9,100 jobs from October 2023 to October 2024 (not seasonally adjusted). During that time, private sector employment fell by 0.51%, decreasing by 15,200 jobs. Public sector employment grew 4.1%, increasing by an estimated 24,300 jobs. 

The two industry sectors with the largest employment gains year over year (not seasonally adjusted) were: 

• Education and health services, up 21,200 jobs. 

• Transportation, warehousing and utilities, up 3,000 jobs. 

The manufacturing sector reported the biggest employment loss year over year (not seasonally adjusted). It contracted by 29,100. Within the sector, aerospace was down an estimated 26,300 jobs. 

Table 1: Washington’s total jobs 

*Revised from previous preliminary estimates. Preliminary monthly estimates for job losses or gains are based on a small Bureau of Labor Statistics payroll survey. Actual figures reported the following month are based on a more complete survey. 

  Table 2: October job gains and losses by industry

Labor market information 

See more labor market information and tools, including interactive Tableau graphics, to highlight popular information and data. 

WorkSource 

Employment Security is a proud partner in the statewide WorkSource system, which provides employment and training assistance to job seekers and businesses. WorkSourceWA provides access to thousands of Washington jobs and other employment resources. WorkSource staff can connect job seekers with employers hiring right now in their community, identify training opportunities or help them brush up on application and interview skills. Job seekers and employers can find their nearest WorkSource center on the WorkSource office locator page. 

Learn more about Employment Security's monthly employment reports 

Every month, the Employment Security Department publishes preliminary seasonally adjusted estimates for the prior month’s job growth and unemployment. We also publish confirmed data for the month before last. See the entire Monthly Employment Report on our website. 

Monthly Employment Report publication schedule for 2024 

 U-6 unemployment rate 

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) updated its “alternative measures of labor underutilization” for states to include annual averages for 2021. One such alternative measure is the U-6 rate, which considers not only the unemployed population in the official “U-3” unemployment rate, but also marginally attached workers and those employed part time for economic reasons. The U-6 rate is defined by BLS as the “total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers.” This U-6 measure measures the “unemployed, underemployed, and those who are not looking but who want a job.” 

Washington’s U-6 annual average unemployment rate for the four-quarter period through third quarter 2024 was 9.2%. This is above the 7.5% average for the four-quarter period through third quarter 2023. The U.S. U-6 average for the four-quarter period through third quarter 2024 was 7.4%. 

Web links 

• Monthly employment report 

• Labor market information website 

• Historical data 

• Employment Security website