Employment falls after eight months of growth

Washington
state lost about
700 jobs from April to May of this year—the first drop since last August—yet
the state’s adjusted unemployment rate fell to 9.1 percent in May, from April’s
9.2 percent, the Washington State Employment Security Division said. Unemployment
in the Seattle/Bellevue/Everett area fell to 8.6 percent in May, from 8.7 percent in
April.

Unemployment fell in spite of the decline in jobs because of
a drop in the size of the labor force by 2,500. People who stop looking for a
job are no longer counted as unemployed.

May’s employment news arrives on the heels of two promising
months: In March, 3,600 jobs were added, and in April, 4,700 jobs. In addition,
Washington
experienced an annual increase in jobs despite May’s monthly net decrease. Between
May 2010 and May 2011, an estimated 33,300 jobs were added in the state, more
than 70 percent of them occurring in the 2011 calendar year. In addition, the
Employment Security Department estimates that 52,400 jobs have been added since
the nadir of the recession.

Despite a net loss in jobs over the past month,
many industries experienced growth during the period, including professional business services, up 900 jobs, and leisure and
hospitality, up 3,200 jobs. Even construction posted a monthly increase in jobs,
and annual gains for the first time since the recession.

Industries that experienced job losses were manufacturing,
wholesale trade, retail trade, financial activities, transportation,
warehousing and utilities, and education and health services.

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