The state Employment Security Department released its Monthly Employment Report for June today. According to preliminary estimates from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the state gained 52,500 jobs, net, seasonally adjusted (SA), from April to May. This estimate is based on BLS’s monthly survey of employers, which counts as employed all persons who received pay for any part of the pay period that includes the 12th day of the month.

BLS estimates that the Seattle/Bellevue/Everett metro area (King and Snohomish counties, which account for a bit more than one-half of all jobs in the state) gained 27,600 jobs (SA) from April to May, while the rest of the state gained 24,900 (SA). Here is a chart showing monthly employment in the two regions since January 1990.

BLS estimates the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the state for May to be 15.1 percent, down from 16.3 percent (revised) in April. BLS unemployment rate estimates are based a monthly survey of households conducted for BLS by the Census Bureau. The reference period for this survey is the calendar week that includes the 12th day of the month.

For the Seattle metro area, the estimated May unemployment rate is 14.4 percent (SA) down from 14.5 percent (SA) for April. For the rest of the state, the estimated May unemployment rate is 15.6 percent (SA), down from the revised April estimate, 17.7 percent (SA).

The full report is available here.

It is likely that this month’s surprising gain in employment is due to the federal Paycheck Protection Program. This program provides to small businesses loans under which those proceeds used to cover payroll costs need not be repaid.