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 dipped again, dropping from a 5.9% year-over-year gain in February to 5.2% in March. With 6.4% year-over-year growth, the retail sector was again the fastest-growing in March.
Here’s a look at the overall Seattle area unemployment rate compared to the national rate:
Unemployment had another big drop yet in Seattle between February and March, and dipped at the state and national level as well. Washington State’s unemployment is still below the national rate, while the Seattle area continues to do much better than Washington State and the nation as a whole. March unemployment came in at 7.6% for the US, 7.3% for Washington, and 5.5% for the Seattle area.
- Seattle Job Levels: Washington State Employment Security Department
- Seattle & Washington Unemployment: Washington State Employment Security Department
- National Unemployment: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Seasonally adjusted series used for all data sets.