Jefferson County will remain on the “distressed areas” list for 2024, which is anywhere in the state of Washington where unemployment is 20% higher than the statewide average. 

Washington’s economy added an estimated 30,900 jobs in November, and the monthly unemployment rate decreased slightly to 4.6%, down from 4.7% in October, or 4.4% without seasonal adjustment. Jefferson County’s unemployment for November was at 5.5%.

Jefferson County is slightly ahead on unemployment claims year-over-year compared to 2023, according to Jeff Robinson, a current labor force statistics manager at Washington State Employment Security Department.  There were 506 paid Unemployment Insurance (UI) claims from January through November this year, which doesn’t include December. That compares to 495 individuals within Jefferson County who received a UI payment in 2023.

Looking at that by month, 158 individuals in Jefferson County received a UI payment in November, up from 130 in October. This compares to 140 individuals in Jefferson County that received a UI benefit in November 2023, Robinson said. 

Statewide, Employment Security paid unemployment benefits to 62,676 people in November, an increase of 5,619 over the previous month. Increases in paid claims in construction and agriculture contributed to the increase, according to a press release issued by ESD.  

During the same time period, the national unemployment rate increased from 4.1% in October to 4.2% in November. For comparison, the national unemployment rate for November 2023 was 3.7%. 

From October to November 2024, the number of people who were unemployed statewide decreased slightly from 187,734 to 185,430. Statewide, Boeing played a big role in those stats because the global aerospace company saw its machinists’ strike end in October. 

“Deep, temporary losses in October translated into large gains in November,” said Anneliese Vance-Sherman, chief labor economist for the state’s Employment Security Department. “Employment levels continue to increase, but the relative gains have slowed in recent months.” 

Statewide, the highest one-month increases in leisure and hospitality were in the arts, entertainment and recreation industries, which recovered 3,500 jobs. The deepest one-month sector losses were in retail trade (down 1,800), construction (down 1,700) and wholesale trade (down 1,600). 

Month over month, three other sectors saw decreases in employment: transportation, warehousing and utilities (down 1,200); education and health services (down 800); and professional and business services (down 400). 

Washington gained an estimated 27,300 jobs from November 2023 to November 2024 (not seasonally adjusted). During that time, private sector employment increased by 0.12%, increasing by 3,700 jobs. Public sector employment grew 4%, increasing by an estimated 23,600 jobs. 

The two industry sectors with the largest employment gains year over year (not seasonally adjusted) were education and health services, up 17,500 jobs and  manufacturing, up 2,200 jobs. 

The wholesale trade sector reported the biggest employment loss year over year (not seasonally adjusted). It contracted by 4,700. Within the sector, nondurable goods decreased an estimated 2,400 jobs.