FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – May 15, 2024

Contact:   media@esd.wa.gov    

Payroll employment continues to increase in April; unemployment holds steady at 4.8%

OLYMPIA – Washington’s economy added an estimated 5,200 jobs (seasonally adjusted) and the monthly unemployment rate remained at 4.8% from March to April 2024.

"Job growth is still trending up, but overall growth has slowed in recent months as net employment – the difference between job gains and job losses – continues to increase in some industries and decrease in others,” said Anneliese Vance-Sherman, chief regional economist for the Washington State Employment Security Department. “Washington payrolls continue to increase, albeit at a slowing rate."

Before staying put for the past two months, the unemployment rate had been slowly increasing. In summer 2023, Washington saw a record low of 3.6%.

Employment Security paid unemployment benefits to 62,423 people in April, a decrease of 4,752 over the previous month. Decreases in paid claims in the following industries contributed to the decrease:

• Construction.
• Administrative and support.
• Waste management and remediation services.

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

Updated state preliminary data for March 2024

• The preliminary estimated gain of 5,300 jobs was revised up to a gain of 8,400 jobs.
• The seasonally adjusted monthly unemployment rate was confirmed at 4.8%.

National unemployment rate

The national unemployment rate increased from 3.8% in March to 3.9% in April. For comparison, the national unemployment rate (revised) for April 2023 was 3.4%.

Labor force showed little change

From March to April 2024, the number of people who were unemployed statewide increased from 193,275 to 194,705. In the Seattle/Bellevue/Everett region, the number of people who were unemployed increased from 73,298 to 75,067 over the same period.

The state’s labor force in April was 4,016,161 – a decrease of 3,631people from the previous month. In the Seattle/Bellevue/Everett region, the labor force decreased by 4,203 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.

Eight major industry sectors expanded, four contracted and one stayed the same from March to April

Private sector employment increased by 5,900 jobs from March to April. Government employment decreased by 700 jobs.

The largest sector-level gains in private industry were in construction (up 3,100 jobs), leisure and hospitality (up 1,500 jobs), and retail trade (up 1,100 jobs).

• All industries within the construction sector added jobs, with the largest gains coming in building construction, and heavy and civil engineering.
• Hiring in arts, entertainment and recreation industries led to the largest one-month gains in leisure and hospitality.
• Within retail trade, food and beverage stores recorded the largest employment gains.

The deepest losses were in professional and business services (down 2,700 jobs), as well as government and information (each down 700).

• All major groups within the professional and business services sector posted employment losses in April. Employment services – an industry that hires temporary workers on behalf of clients – was down 2,300 over the month.
• Government losses were concentrated in local government, not local educational services.
• Information sector losses included losses in software publishing.

Annual employment growth appears in three main areas

Washington gained an estimated 50,600 jobs from April 2023 to April 2024 (not seasonally adjusted). During that time, private sector employment rose 1.1%, increasing by 31,900 jobs. Public sector employment grew 3.2%, increasing by an estimated 18,700 jobs.

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

• Government, up 18,700 jobs.
• Education and health services, up 18,100 jobs.
• Transportation, warehousing and utilities, up 13,200 jobs.

The two industry sectors reporting employment losses year over year (not seasonally adjusted) were:

• Information, down 8,900 jobs.
• Retail trade, down 3,700 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: April 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 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.”

The U-6 annual average unemployment rate for the four-quarter period through fourth quarter 2023 for Washington state was 8.1%. 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 fourth quarter 2023 was 6.9%.

Web links

• Monthly employment report 
• Labor market information website
• Historical data
• Employment Security website

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