Wash. unemployment rate increases to 8.6 percent

The numbers released by the Employment Security Department show that the August unemployment rate increased from the July rate of 8.5 percent, the second consecutive month the state has seen an increase. There was some good news in the construction industry, which saw a net gain of 1,900 jobs last month, the most of any sector in the state. Since August 2011, the construction industry has seen a net gain of 3,900 jobs.

The job losses are a turnaround from July, which had seen an estimated gain of 5,900 jobs, a number that was revised up from 5,000 since the last employment report.

The employment estimates for the leisure-and-hospitality industry and the wholesale-trade industry showed unusually large losses for August for the second year in a row, losing a combined 4,900 jobs from July to August.

Even with the losses, jobs in the sectors didn’t change significantly, officials said. They cite “seasonal adjustments” of monthly job numbers that are applied to reflect seasonal variations in employment, like summer season or holiday hiring.

A seasonally adjusted “gain” is reflected when an industry adds more jobs or doesn’t eliminate as many jobs as expected based on prior employment reports. A loss is when cuts are deeper than expected, or if normal hiring doesn’t occur.

“It can take up to two or three years to determine when deviations from the seasonal norms are temporary or longer term,” Joe Elling, chief labor economist for the state’s Employment Security Department, said in a written statement.

Other industries that saw job gains in August were manufacturing, financial activities, education and health services, and government. In addition to wholesale trade and leisure and hospitality, other sectors that saw losses were retail trade and professional and business services.

___

Follow Rachel La Corte at http://www.twitter.com/RachelAPOly or http://www.facebook.com/news.rachel

___

Online:

Full report: http://1.usa.gov/MwY12u