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Wednesday, June 18, 2003
Economy seems to stabilize: state unemployment rate holds at 7.3%
The dark days of the Washington economy may finally be ending.
Whereas Washington's unemployment rate was unchanged at 7.3 percent in May, the lack of movement is good news because it's a sign that the economy has shaken off the effects of the Iraq war, recent terrorist attacks and the SARS outbreak to finally begin its recovery, according to state economist Roberta Pauer.
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"This month marks what may well be the turning point in the state's recovery from the 2001-2002 recession," Pauer said yesterday.
If Washington emerges from 29 months of economic slumber, though, it likely won't spring to life. Economists expect a slow recovery from the state's first recession in two decades.
"Even if the economy is now poised for a gradual recovery, the labor market is likely to react slowly and the unemployment rate probably won't improve appreciably until late this year," Employment Security Commissioner Sylvia Mundy said in a statement yesterday.
A slow recovery is preferable to seasonally adjusted unemployment rates that rose in each of the last three months.
Although the labor market may get better this year, any improvement will be muted by a growing number of job seekers, as people who abandoned the labor force resume their job hunts, according to Pauer.
Seattle mirrored the state's economic performance in May, as its unemployment rate remained steady at 6.8 percent.
Nationwide, the unemployment rate rose to 6.1 percent, a nine-year high, according to the Labor Department.
Still, the national economy showed signs that a recovery is under way, as the government reported no loss of jobs in April, after initially indicating a loss of 48,000.
P-I reporter Paul Nyhan can be reached at 206-448-8145 or paulnyhan@seattlepi.com This report includes information from Bloomberg News.
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