Washington’s unemployment rate ticks up to 5.2% in April as job losses mount

OLYMPIA — Washington’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 5.2% (212,533 residents) in April 2026, up one-tenth of a percentage point from a revised 5.1% in March and well above the 4.5% (181,390 residents) recorded a year earlier, the state Employment Security Department released Tuesday. Nonfarm employment decreased by an estimated 4,500 jobs on a […]