The Associated Press
OLYMPIA
Washington’s unemployment rate jumped to 7.1 percent last month, the largest one month increase in more than three decades.
Kitsap County’s unemployment rate jumped from 5.8 in November to 6.1 percent in December.
The state’s jump of more than half a percentage point from 6.4 percent in November was the biggest increase reported since 1976, according to the state Employment Security Department.
Washington state’s unemployment rate has nearly caught up to the national rate of 7.2 percent.
Last year at this time, the state’s unemployment rate was 4.6 percent. Washington had 54,600 fewer jobs last month than a year ago, a 1.8 percent decrease. Nationally, employment declined by 1.9 percent over the past year.
Economists say nearly 252,000 people are unemployed and looking for work.
