Job Gains Moderate in February as Unemployment Dips

New local job stats came out this week, so let’s have a look at the Seattle area’s employment situation.

First up, year-over-year job growth, broken down into a few relevant sectors:

Construction growth fell off, dropping from an 8.2% year-over-year gain in January to just 5.4% in February, and the over ten percent gains we saw in that sector in the original December data was erased by revised data. With 6% year-over-year growth, the retail sector actually eclipsed construction as the fastest-growing in February.

Here’s a look at the overall Seattle area unemployment rate compared to the national rate:

Unemployment fell yet again in Seattle between January and February while it continued to flat-line nationally. Washington State’s unemployment is still below the national rate, while the Seattle area is still outperforming Washington State and the nation as a whole. February unemployment came in at 7.7% for the US, 7.5% for Washington, and 5.9% for the Seattle area.