Washington’s economy lost an estimated 2,000 jobs (seasonally adjusted) in September, and the monthly unemployment rate held steady at 4.8%.
“Washington’s labor market has been in a holding pattern,” said Anneliese Vance-Sherman, chief labor economist for the Employment Security Department. “The unemployment rate has been holding around 4.8% for most of the year, and the strong job gains experienced over the past few years have slowed to relatively small monthly changes.”
The leisure and hospitality, information, and financial activities industries experienced the largest job losses from August to September. Education and health services, construction and wholesale trade led statewide employment growth during that same time.
The unemployment rate has hovered at 4.8 to 4.9% since March 2024. For comparison, the unemployment rate stood at 3.6% in September 2023.
Employment Security paid unemployment benefits to 53,914 people in September, a decrease of 1,538 over the previous month. Decreases in paid claims in these industries helped contribute to the decrease:
- Transportation and warehousing.
- Health care and social assistance.
Visit Employment Security’s website to view the entire Monthly Employment Report for September 2024.
Updated state preliminary data for August 2024
- The preliminary estimated gain of 1,600 jobs was revised to a gain of 2,100.
- The seasonally adjusted monthly unemployment rate remained at 4.8%.
National unemployment rate
The national unemployment rate decreased from 4.2% in August to 4.1% in September. For comparison, the national unemployment rate (revised) for September 2023 was 3.8%.
Labor force showed little change
From August to September 2024, the number of people who were unemployed statewide decreased slightly from 194,304 to 190,342. In the Seattle/Bellevue/Everett region, the number of people who were unemployed decreased from 78,903 to 77,785 over the same period.
The state’s labor force in September stood at 4,003,205 – a decrease of 9,072 people from the previous month. In the Seattle/Bellevue/Everett region, the labor force increased by 1,284 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.
Five major industry sectors expanded, seven contracted from August to September
Private sector employment decreased by 1,800 jobs from August to September. Government employment decreased by 200 during that same time.
The largest sector-level gains in private industry were in education and health services (up 3,000 jobs), construction (up 1,600), and wholesale trade (up 1,500 jobs).
- The highest one-month gains in education and health services were in private education services (up 1,600 jobs) and ambulatory care services (up 1,100 jobs).
- Social assistance (down 400 jobs) is the only set of industries reporting one-month losses in the education and health services sector.
Seven sectors saw decreases in employment: leisure and hospitality (down 5,300); information (down 1,700); financial activities (down 900); manufacturing (down 500); government (down 200); transportation, warehousing and utilities (down 200); and professional and business services (down 200).
Annual employment growth appears in public and private industries
Washington gained an estimated 44,600 jobs from September 2023 to September 2024 (not seasonally adjusted). During that time, private sector employment rose 0.9%, increasing by 26,000 jobs. Public sector employment grew 3.2%, increasing by an estimated 18,600 jobs.
The two industry sectors with the largest employment gains year over year (not seasonally adjusted) were:
- Education and health services, up 19,500 jobs.
- Construction, up 5,300 jobs.
The information sector reported the biggest employment loss year over year (not seasonally adjusted). It contracted by 5,400. Within the sector, the software publishing industry shed an estimated 4,200 jobs.
Table 1: Washington’s total jobs
| Month | Total jobs (losses or gains) | Unemployment rate | Previous year’s unemployment rate |
| September 2024 | -2,000 | 4.8% | 3.6% |
| August 2024 | +2,100* | 4.8%* | 3.6% |
| July 2024 | -3,100* | 4.9%* | 3.6% |
| June 2024 | +8,700* | 4.8%* | 3.8% |
| May 2024 | +16,300* | 4.9%* | 4.1% |
| April 2024 | +6,800* | 4.8%* | 4.3% |
| March 2024 | +8,400* | 4.8%* | 4.5% |
| February 2024 | +3,900* | 4.7%* | 4.6% |
| January 2024 | -2,700* | 4.6%* | 4.6% |
| December 2023 | +18,500* | 4.2%* | 4.5% |
| November 2023 | +4,800* | 4.0%* | 4.6% |
| October 2023 | -6,900* | 3.8%* | 4.6% |
| September 2023 | +300 * | 3.6%* | 4.4% |
| August 2023 | +2,500* | 3.6%* | 4.3% |
| July 2023 | -6,300* | 3.6%* | 4.1% |
| June 2023 | +17,300* | 3.8%* | 3.9% |
| May 2023 | +3,800* | 4.1%* | 3.9% |
| April 2023 | +7,700* | 4.3%* | 3.9% |
| March 2023 | +1,000* | 4.5%* | 3.9% |
| February 2023 | +7,600* | 4.6%* | 4.0% |
| January 2023 | +4,200* | 4.6%* | 4.0% |
| December 2022 | +10,400* | 4.5%* | 4.1% |
| November 2022 | -700* | 4.6%* | 4.3% |
| October 2022 | -1,500* | 4.6%* | 4.5% |
| September 2022 | -4,200* | 4.4%* | 4.8% |
*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: September job gains and losses by industry
| Industry sector | Job gains, losses |
| Education and health services | 3,000 |
| Construction | 1,600 |
| Wholesale trade | 1,500 |
| Other services | 500 |
| Retail trade | 400 |
| Mining and logging | 0 |
| Professional and business services | -200 |
| Transportation, warehousing and utilities | -200 |
| Government | -200 |
| Manufacturing | -500 |
| Financial activities | -900 |
| Information | -1,700 |
| Leisure and hospitality | -5,300 |
Labor market information
See more labor market information and tools, including interactive Tableau graphics, to highlight popular information and data.
