Washington employment statistics at a glance
Washington’s labor market in the supplied data shows a narrow, month-to-month range in late 2025 and early 2026, with the civilian labor force staying a little above 4.06 million and the unemployment rate holding near 5%. That makes the keyword “Washington employment statistics” useful for readers who want a fast read on the state’s labor force, employment level, and nonfarm payroll backdrop.
Table of contents
- Fast facts
- Labor force trends
- Employment and unemployment
- Nonfarm payroll snapshot
- Industry detail
- What the figures suggest
Fast facts
Key takeaways
- Washington’s civilian labor force was 4,064.4 thousand in March 2026 (BLS Washington Economy at a Glance, May 15, 2026).
- Washington’s employment level was 3,855.4 thousand in March 2026 (BLS Washington Economy at a Glance, May 15, 2026).
- Washington’s unemployed count was 209.0 thousand in March 2026 (BLS Washington Economy at a Glance, May 15, 2026).
- Washington’s unemployment rate was 5.1% in March 2026 (BLS Washington Economy at a Glance, May 15, 2026).
- Washington’s total nonfarm employment was 3,638.0 thousand in March 2026 (BLS Washington Economy at a Glance, May 15, 2026).
At a glance
The cleanest reading of the dataset is stability, not sharp movement. The labor force, employment level, and unemployment rate all shift only slightly from November 2025 through March 2026, which suggests a labor market that is active but not swinging wildly from one month to the next.
Big number: Washington’s labor force stayed above 4.06 million in every month shown from November 2025 through March 2026 (BLS Washington Economy at a Glance, May 15, 2026).
Labor force trends
Washington’s civilian labor force moved within a tight band across the five months in the dataset. The highest reading in the group was 4,066.4 thousand in February 2026, while the lowest was 4,062.7 thousand in December 2025 (BLS Washington Economy at a Glance, May 15, 2026). That is a relatively small spread for a state-scale labor pool.
The month-by-month path looks like this:
| Month | Civilian labor force | Employment level | Unemployed count | Unemployment rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 2025 | 4,062.8 thousand | 3,864.6 thousand | 198.2 thousand | 4.9% |
| December 2025 | 4,062.7 thousand | 3,864.6 thousand | 198.2 thousand | 4.9% |
| January 2026 | 4,065.1 thousand | 3,860.7 thousand | 204.4 thousand | 5.0% |
| February 2026 | 4,066.4 thousand | 3,858.3 thousand | 208.1 thousand | 5.1% |
| March 2026 | 4,064.4 thousand | 3,855.4 thousand | 209.0 thousand | 5.1% |
This table makes the core pattern easy to see. The labor force barely changed, but employment moved lower across the window, while unemployment edged higher. That combination is why the unemployment rate drifted from 4.9% in November and December 2025 to 5.1% in February and March 2026 (BLS Washington Economy at a Glance, May 15, 2026).
Why the labor force matters
The labor force is the backdrop for every other Washington employment statistic in the set. A stable labor force means the rest of the monthly movement is more likely to reflect employment shifts and unemployment changes than major population swings or sudden participation changes.
In this dataset, the labor force behaves like an anchor:
- March 2026: 4,064.4 thousand
- February 2026: 4,066.4 thousand
- January 2026: 4,065.1 thousand
- December 2025: 4,062.7 thousand
- November 2025: 4,062.8 thousand
The differences are small enough that the labor market story is mostly about composition inside the workforce, not the size of the workforce itself (BLS Washington Economy at a Glance, May 15, 2026).
Employment and unemployment
The employment level in Washington declined gradually across the period covered by the dataset. It was 3,864.6 thousand in November 2025 and December 2025, then 3,860.7 thousand in January 2026, 3,858.3 thousand in February 2026, and 3,855.4 thousand in March 2026 (BLS Washington Economy at a Glance, May 15, 2026).
That is a measured slide rather than a sudden drop. The size of the decline is visible, but it is modest relative to the overall labor force size. The state still had a large employed base, and the employment level remained well above 3.85 million throughout the period.
Unemployment moved in the opposite direction
At the same time, the unemployed count rose from 198.2 thousand in November 2025 and December 2025 to 204.4 thousand in January 2026, 208.1 thousand in February 2026, and 209.0 thousand in March 2026 (BLS Washington Economy at a Glance, May 15, 2026).
That creates a simple read:
- Employment trended lower.
- Unemployment trended higher.
- The labor force stayed fairly flat.
- The unemployment rate nudged up.
The unemployment rate confirms that shift. Washington held at 4.9% in November and December 2025, reached 5.0% in January 2026, and then sat at 5.1% in February and March 2026 (BLS Washington Economy at a Glance, May 15, 2026).
A compact comparison of the turning point
The most useful comparison in the data is the change from late 2025 to early 2026:
- November 2025 to March 2026 labor force: 4,062.8 thousand to 4,064.4 thousand
- November 2025 to March 2026 employment: 3,864.6 thousand to 3,855.4 thousand
- November 2025 to March 2026 unemployed count: 198.2 thousand to 209.0 thousand
- November 2025 to March 2026 unemployment rate: 4.9% to 5.1%
This is a useful way to think about Washington employment statistics: the headline workforce size barely changed, but the balance between employed and unemployed residents shifted enough to move the jobless rate upward (BLS Washington Economy at a Glance, May 15, 2026).
Nonfarm payroll snapshot
The dataset also includes Washington’s total nonfarm employment, which can be read as a broader payroll-style snapshot alongside the labor force measures. In March 2026, total nonfarm employment was 3,638.0 thousand (BLS Washington Economy at a Glance, May 15, 2026).
The recent sequence is extremely tight:
- March 2026: 3,638.0 thousand
- February 2026: 3,637.2 thousand
- January 2026: 3,639.3 thousand
- December 2025: 3,639.3 thousand
- November 2025: 3,635.6 thousand
That means total nonfarm employment stayed in a narrow window around 3.64 million. It was slightly higher in January and December 2025 than in November 2025, then eased a bit in February and March 2026, but the whole sequence remains close.
Nonfarm employment growth rate
The year-over-year change tells another part of the story:
- March 2026: up 0.3% over 12 months
- February 2026: up 0.2% over 12 months
- January 2026: up 0.1% over 12 months
- December 2025: up 0.1% over 12 months
- November 2025: up 0.2% over 12 months
The growth rate stayed positive in each month shown, but the pace was light (BLS Washington Economy at a Glance, May 15, 2026). For readers scanning Washington employment statistics, that matters because it separates total payroll growth from labor-force unemployment changes. Payrolls were still growing a little year over year even while unemployment edged up in the monthly data.
What the payroll figures add
The payroll numbers suggest a labor market that is not collapsing, but also not accelerating quickly. The total nonfarm employment series stays close to the same level across all five months, and the 12-month growth rates remain near zero to slightly positive.
That combination can be summarized as:
- Stable headline payroll counts
- Mild positive annual growth
- Small month-to-month dips and rebounds
- No sharp break in the trend
The broad reading is consistency rather than volatility (BLS Washington Economy at a Glance, May 15, 2026).
Industry detail
Only two industry slices are included in the dataset, but they are still useful because they show how specific parts of Washington’s economy compare with the broader labor market.
Mining and logging
Washington’s mining and logging employment was 5.1 thousand in every month shown: March, February, January, December, and November 2025-2026 (BLS Washington Economy at a Glance, May 15, 2026).
The year-over-year change is just as flat for most of the period:
- March 2026: unchanged from a year earlier at 0.0%
- February 2026: unchanged from a year earlier at 0.0%
- January 2026: unchanged from a year earlier at 0.0%
- December 2025: up 2.0% over 12 months
- November 2025: unchanged from a year earlier at 0.0%
The simplest interpretation is that mining and logging is a very small slice of Washington employment statistics, and in this dataset it is stable enough to serve as a reference point rather than a driver of the state-wide trend.
Construction
Construction is much larger than mining and logging, but it is also softening in the supplied figures. Washington construction employment was 214.4 thousand in November 2025, 214.9 thousand in December 2025, 218.2 thousand in January 2026, 217.4 thousand in February 2026, and 218.9 thousand in March 2026 (BLS Washington Economy at a Glance, May 15, 2026).
The year-over-year path is negative in every month shown:
- March 2026: down 0.1% over 12 months
- February 2026: down 0.3% over 12 months
- January 2026: down 0.9% over 12 months
- December 2025: down 2.4% over 12 months
- November 2025: down 2.5% over 12 months
That makes construction one of the clearer soft spots in the dataset. The employment level itself is not falling sharply from month to month, but the annual comparison shows a weaker setup than the total nonfarm series.
What the figures suggest
The dataset supports a few careful takeaways that stay fully inside the provided numbers.
1. Washington’s workforce was broadly stable
The civilian labor force hovered around 4.06 million from November 2025 through March 2026, with only small movements from month to month (BLS Washington Economy at a Glance, May 15, 2026). That means the state did not see a major labor-force expansion or contraction in the supplied window.
2. Employment slipped while unemployment rose
Employment fell from 3,864.6 thousand in November and December 2025 to 3,855.4 thousand in March 2026, while unemployed counts rose from 198.2 thousand to 209.0 thousand over the same span (BLS Washington Economy at a Glance, May 15, 2026). That is the clearest directional change in the data.
3. The unemployment rate changed, but not dramatically
The unemployment rate moved from 4.9% to 5.1% across the window. That is a noticeable change, but it is still a narrow range and does not signal a large shock by itself (BLS Washington Economy at a Glance, May 15, 2026).
4. Payrolls remained close to flat with slight annual growth
Total nonfarm employment stayed around 3.64 million, and the 12-month change remained positive but very small, ranging from 0.1% to 0.3% in the months listed (BLS Washington Economy at a Glance, May 15, 2026). That points to a labor market with limited growth momentum in the supplied period.
5. Industry signals are mixed
Construction shows a negative year-over-year trend, while mining and logging is essentially flat at 5.1 thousand (BLS Washington Economy at a Glance, May 15, 2026). Those are very different scales, but together they show that Washington employment statistics are not moving in one single direction across all sectors.
Fast facts recap
- Labor force: 4,064.4 thousand in March 2026
- Employment level: 3,855.4 thousand in March 2026
- Unemployed count: 209.0 thousand in March 2026
- Unemployment rate: 5.1% in March 2026
- Total nonfarm employment: 3,638.0 thousand in March 2026
- Construction employment: 218.9 thousand in March 2026
- Mining and logging employment: 5.1 thousand in March 2026
These are the main numbers readers usually want first when they search for Washington employment statistics, and the supplied dataset gives them a compact story: a stable labor force, slightly weaker employment, a mildly higher unemployment rate, and payroll growth that is positive but restrained.