Washington unemployment rate soars in December

The unemployment rate in Washington jumped to 7.1 percent last month from November’s 6.4 percent, which is the largest single monthly rate increase in the state since 1976.
State officials said record numbers of people are applying for unemployment benefits.
According to the Employment Security Department, more than 251,000 people were looking for work last month, which is 90,000 more than were looking in December 2007.
In the Seattle/Bellevue/Everett area, the unemployment rate jumped to 6.2 percent last month from 5.4 percent a month earlier. In December 2007, the unemployment rate for the area was only 3.6 percent. The number of unemployed people in the area rose to 91,400 from 78,900 a month earlier and from 51,700 in December 2007.
“In barely a year, we’ve gone from historically low unemployment to record numbers of people applying for unemployment benefits,” said Employment Security Commissioner Karen Lee, in a statement.