Washington state’s economy shed an estimated 100 jobs (seasonally adjusted), and the July unemployment rate rose to 4.9%.

“Washington’s labor market is in a holding pattern,” said Anneliese Vance-Sherman, chief labor economist for the Employment Security Department.

“July marked the fifth consecutive month with an unemployment rate in the 4.8% to 4.9% range. Payroll employment shows a mix of employment gains and losses by sector, continuing the trend we’ve been experiencing.

“The extremely tight labor market of the pandemic is behind us.”

Employment Security paid unemployment benefits to 56,548 people in July, a decrease of 1,340 over the previous month. Decreases in paid claims in educational services and transportation/warehousing industries helped contribute to the decrease: educational services.

Clallam County’s unemployment rate for July 2024 was 5.6% — 13th-highest among the state’s 39 counties.

The national unemployment rate increased from 4.1% in June to 4.3% in July.

For comparison, the national unemployment rate (revised) for July 2023 was 3.5%.

From June to July 2024, the number of people who were unemployed statewide increased slightly from 194,884 to 196,669. The state’s labor force in July stood at 4,017,377 – a decrease of 1,482 people from the previous month.

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.

Private sector employment increased by 700 jobs from June to July. Government employment decreased by 800 jobs.

The largest sector-level gains in private industry were in education and health services (up 3,100 jobs), construction (up 1,700), and transportation, warehousing and utilities (up 1,300 jobs).

The highest one-month gains in education and health services were in health services and social assistance (up 4,100 jobs). Within that sector, the largest gains occurred in hospitals (up 2,000) and social assistance (up 1,900).

The largest gains in the construction sector were in the construction of buildings (up 1,700) – especially residential construction.

Seven sectors saw decreases in employment: information (down 3,800); other services (down 1,500); wholesale trade (down 1,000); government (down 800); professional and business services (down 300); manufacturing (down 100), and mining and logging (down 100).