State jobless rate steady

The latest figures are out, and the state's unemployment rate is unchanged from last month: 9.1%.

About 1,900  private sector jobs were added last month. That makes five consecutive months of job growth in private industry, according to the Employment Security Department. 

The public sector added 4,000 positions, largely due to education-related hiring in September.

In a statement released this afternoon, ESD noted:

So far in 2010, Washington has added 10,200 private-sector jobs. Factoring in a substantial loss of government jobs, there has been an estimated net gain of 6,000 jobs during the past 10 months.

Construction and manufacturing led in job losses.  There were about 8,500 fewer jobs in October compared to a year ago.

There are more than 302,000 people who are unemployed and looking for work last month, with 223,000 receiving unemployment benefits.