(Originally posted on 11/15/2012)

According to preliminary estimates prepared by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and released today by the state Employment Security Department (ESD), Washington’s economy gained 6,700 jobs between the September and October reporting periods. The preliminary estimate of the October unemployment rate for the state is 8.2 percent. The estimate of number of jobs gained from August to September was revised upward to 6,600, from the 1,200 initially reported last month.

The chart below compares the current recession/recovery in Washington employment to other post World War II recession/recoveries. From the pre-recession peak (February 2008) to the low point (February 2010) Washington lost 205,900 jobs (6.9 percent of peak number). As of October, by ESD’s reckoning, the state had regained 124,000 of these jobs but was still 81,900 (2.8 percent) below the peak. If the state were to continue to add jobs at the monthly rate averaged over the last year (5,300 per month), the February 2008 value would not be surpassed until February 2014.