Oregon Public Broadcasting

Unemployment has jumped again across Washington State.  In January, Washington’s unemployment rate rose to 7.8 percent.  That’s up from 7.1 percent in December.

Oregon’s January jobless numbers have been delayed, but are trending even higher. Correspondent Tom Banse reports on how high the unemployment rate could go.

More than 300,000 Washington workers were unemployed in January.  In raw numbers, that’s the most jobless people ever counted in the state.  However, it doesn’t translate into the highest unemployment rate because of population growth. 

Check out our map of recent layoffs around the Northwest

Employment department chief economist Mary Ayala says the highest rate in modern times for Washington was set in November 1982, at 12.2 percent. 

Ayala says we may equal or surpass that rate if bank loans remain hard to get and the stimulus disappoints.

Mary Ayala: “If I were to guess, I’d say if the financial sector isn’t stabilized within probably the next six months we could hit 12.5 (percent) very easily before the end of the year or maybe next year.”

Upgrades to a computer system at the federal Department of Labor have delayed the release of January unemployment numbers for Oregon and Idaho.

Washington State went ahead and calculated its monthly unemployment numbers on its own.