Washington workforce statistics at a glance
Washington workforce statistics show a labor market that is large, diverse, and still moving through clear monthly and annual shifts. The most useful pattern in the data is not just the headline unemployment rate, but how employment, labor force size, sector mix, and demographic participation fit together (Employment Security Department county profiles).
Fast facts
- Unemployment rate: 5.3% in December 2025, down from 4.9% in November 2025 and up from 4.3% in December 2024 (Employment Security Department county profiles).
- Labor force: 4,069,074 in December 2025, compared with 4,096,635 in November 2025 and 4,050,286 in December 2024 (Employment Security Department county profiles).
- Employed persons: 3,854,360 in December 2025 (Employment Security Department county profiles).
- Unemployed persons seeking work: 214,714 in December 2025 (Employment Security Department county profiles).
- Total nonfarm employment: 3,636,300 jobs in December 2025 (Employment Security Department county profiles).
- Annual average wage for covered employees: $92,467 in 2024 (Employment Security Department county profiles).
Table of contents
- Washington workforce trends and headline labor market numbers
- Employment levels by sector
- 2024 covered employment and wages
- Age, race, and demographic participation
- Education and family status differences
- What the workforce numbers suggest
Washington workforce trends and headline labor market numbers
The cleanest way to read Washington workforce statistics is to start with the three month comparison embedded in the dataset: December 2024, November 2025, and December 2025. Those snapshots show whether the state is expanding, cooling, or simply reshuffling inside a large labor pool (Employment Security Department county profiles).
| Metric | December 2024 | November 2025 | December 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rate | 4.3% | 4.9% | 5.3% |
| Labor force | 4,050,286 | 4,096,635 | 4,069,074 |
| Employed persons | 3,877,510 | 3,894,163 | 3,854,360 |
| Unemployed persons seeking work | 172,776 | 202,472 | 214,714 |
| Total nonfarm employment | 3,642,900 | 3,638,600 | 3,636,300 |
| Private-sector employment | 3,020,600 | 3,018,500 | 3,021,200 |
| Government employment | 622,300 | 620,100 | 615,100 |
| Service-providing employment | 3,146,900 | 3,151,100 | 3,151,500 |
The headline is straightforward: the unemployment rate rose from 4.3% in December 2024 to 5.3% in December 2025 while the labor force stayed above 4 million the entire time (Employment Security Department county profiles). That means the state still had a very large active workforce, but a larger share of it was unemployed at the end of 2025 than a year earlier.
A second useful read is the relationship between labor force and employment. In December 2025, Washington had 4,069,074 people in the labor force and 3,854,360 employed persons, leaving 214,714 unemployed persons seeking work (Employment Security Department county profiles). That is a large labor market by any standard, and the scale matters because even small percentage changes represent tens of thousands of people.
The employment counts also show a subtle but important pattern. Total nonfarm employment fell only slightly from 3,642,900 in December 2024 to 3,636,300 in December 2025 (Employment Security Department county profiles). That is a modest decline relative to the size of the overall workforce, but it helps explain why the unemployment rate can rise even when the labor market still looks large and stable in absolute terms.
Key takeaway
Washington’s workforce remained massive, but December 2025 showed more slack than December 2024, with higher unemployment and a slightly lower total nonfarm employment count (Employment Security Department county profiles).
Employment levels by sector
Washington workforce statistics become more interesting when they move from the headline totals to sector detail. The dataset separates private, government, goods-producing, and service-providing jobs, and it also breaks out major industries within those groups (Employment Security Department county profiles).
Sector mix snapshot
- Private-sector employment: 3,021,200 jobs in December 2025 (Employment Security Department county profiles).
- Government employment: 615,100 jobs in December 2025 (Employment Security Department county profiles).
- Goods-producing employment: 484,800 jobs in December 2025 (Employment Security Department county profiles).
- Service-providing employment: 3,151,500 jobs in December 2025 (Employment Security Department county profiles).
The service side is clearly larger than the goods-producing side. That is not a minor difference. It means Washington’s labor market is anchored more by service activity than by production work, even though manufacturing and construction remain substantial pieces of the economy (Employment Security Department county profiles).
Major industries in December 2025
| Industry | Employment |
|---|---|
| Professional and business services | 534,100 |
| Private education and health services | 577,700 |
| Retail trade | 341,200 |
| Leisure and hospitality | 339,100 |
| Financial activities | 163,400 |
| Information | 163,100 |
| Transportation, warehousing, and utilities | 162,600 |
| Wholesale trade | 132,800 |
| Other services | 122,400 |
| Manufacturing | 266,300 |
| Construction | 213,500 |
| Mining and logging | 5,000 |
The largest industry in the list is private education and health services at 577,700 jobs, followed by professional and business services at 534,100 jobs (Employment Security Department county profiles). Those two categories alone account for a major share of the state’s workforce structure.
Three other details stand out:
- Retail trade at 341,200 jobs and leisure and hospitality at 339,100 jobs are nearly even, which suggests two large consumer-facing labor pools of similar size (Employment Security Department county profiles).
- Manufacturing at 266,300 jobs is still sizable, even though the broader labor market is service-heavy (Employment Security Department county profiles).
- Transportation, warehousing, and utilities at 162,600 jobs sits close to information at 163,100 jobs and financial activities at 163,400 jobs, which shows how varied the middle of the labor market can be (Employment Security Department county profiles).
Why the sector split matters
When Washington workforce statistics are read through sectors, the state looks less like a single labor market and more like a stack of overlapping labor markets. A worker moving between industries is not simply shifting from one job title to another; they may be moving between very different employment clusters, wage levels, and participation patterns. The dataset does not quantify job openings or turnover, so it is best to stay with what it does show: a broad base of service jobs, a meaningful manufacturing base, and substantial employment in construction, logistics, retail, and care-related work (Employment Security Department county profiles).
2024 covered employment and wages
The annual 2024 figures provide a different lens from the monthly job counts. They capture average wage conditions and covered employment for the year, which makes them useful for understanding where the state’s labor market concentrates pay and payroll scale (Employment Security Department county profiles).
2024 covered employment highlights
- Covered employees averaged 3,577,071 in 2024 (Employment Security Department county profiles).
- Annual average wage for covered employees was $92,467 in 2024 (Employment Security Department county profiles).
- Government covered employment was 591,342 jobs (Employment Security Department county profiles).
- Healthcare and social assistance covered employment was 471,140 jobs (Employment Security Department county profiles).
- Retail trade covered employment was 328,496 jobs (Employment Security Department county profiles).
- Accommodation and food services covered employment was 283,539 jobs (Employment Security Department county profiles).
- Manufacturing covered employment was 271,063 jobs (Employment Security Department county profiles).
These figures are useful because they shift the discussion from monthly movement to the broader payroll base. The average wage of $92,467 is especially important because it provides a single statewide benchmark for covered workers in 2024 (Employment Security Department county profiles).
Wage leaders in 2024
| Industry | Average wage |
|---|---|
| Management of companies and enterprises | $276,463 |
| Information | $275,718 |
| Professional, scientific, and technical services | $147,540 |
| Utilities | $136,763 |
| Finance and insurance | $134,545 |
This wage table shows a large gap between the top two industries and the rest of the listed sectors. Management of companies and enterprises at $276,463 and information at $275,718 stand far above the statewide average wage of $92,467 (Employment Security Department county profiles). That gap matters because it signals how concentrated high pay can be in specific parts of the labor market.
Three quick observations follow from the wage data:
- The top wage industries are not the same as the biggest employment industries.
- High employment sectors like healthcare and social assistance, retail trade, and accommodation and food services do not appear among the top average-wage list in the supplied data.
- Washington’s workforce therefore combines a large mass of moderate and lower-paying jobs with a smaller set of exceptionally high-wage sectors (Employment Security Department county profiles).
Covered employment versus monthly employment
The monthly employment figures and the annual covered employment figures are related, but they are not identical views of the labor market. The monthly series emphasizes recent movement, while the 2024 covered employment data emphasizes the year’s broader payroll base. That is why it is useful to read them together rather than trying to force one number to do the work of both (Employment Security Department county profiles).
Age, race, and demographic participation
Washington workforce statistics are especially useful when broken into demographic participation rates. The dataset provides labor force participation and unemployment rates by age, race, sex, family status, poverty status, disability status, and education level, which allows a fuller picture of who is active in the labor market and who is more likely to be unemployed (Employment Security Department county profiles).
Age groups
| Age group | Labor force participation rate | Unemployment rate |
|---|---|---|
| 16 to 19 | 40.20% | 16.60% |
| 20 to 24 | 79.20% | 8.80% |
| 25 to 29 | 84.90% | 5.10% |
| 30 to 34 | 83.40% | 4.70% |
| 35 to 44 | 83.30% | 4.10% |
| 45 to 54 | 82.30% | 3.50% |
| 55 to 59 | 74.60% | 3.80% |
| 60 to 64 | 58.60% | 3.50% |
| 65 to 74 | 24.80% | 3.60% |
| 75 and over | 5.90% | 3.80% |
| Age 16 and over | 64.70% | 5.00% |
| Age 20 to 64 | 79.40% | 4.60% |
| Age 25 to 64 | 79.50% | 4.10% |
The most striking age pattern is the gap between the youngest and prime-age groups. Workers ages 16 to 19 have a participation rate of 40.20% and an unemployment rate of 16.60%, while workers ages 45 to 54 have a participation rate of 82.30% and an unemployment rate of 3.50% (Employment Security Department county profiles). That contrast says a lot about how entry into the labor market differs from established participation.
Prime-age groups are the most consistently attached to the workforce. Ages 25 to 29, 30 to 34, 35 to 44, and 45 to 54 all sit in a relatively narrow range around the low-80s in participation and around 3.5% to 5.1% in unemployment (Employment Security Department county profiles).
Race and ethnicity
| Group | Labor force participation rate | Unemployment rate |
|---|---|---|
| White alone | 62.30% | 4.70% |
| Black or African American alone | 69.70% | 7.40% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native alone | 61.00% | 8.10% |
| Asian alone | 70.10% | 3.50% |
| Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander alone | 69.40% | 6.10% |
| Some other race alone | 73.10% | 5.60% |
| Two or more races | 70.00% | 6.80% |
| Hispanic or Latino origin | 72.90% | 5.90% |
| White alone, not Hispanic or Latino | 61.90% | 4.70% |
The cleanest takeaway here is that participation is high across several groups, but unemployment varies widely. Asian alone residents show a 70.10% participation rate and a 3.50% unemployment rate, while American Indian and Alaska Native alone residents show a 61.00% participation rate and an 8.10% unemployment rate (Employment Security Department county profiles).
The largest unemployment figure in this section belongs to American Indian and Alaska Native alone residents at 8.10%. The lowest unemployment figure in the same set is 3.50% for Asian alone residents (Employment Security Department county profiles).
Sex and family status
- Washington males: 2,368,049 people, 84.70% participation, 4.70% unemployment (Employment Security Department county profiles).
- Washington females: 2,259,572 people, 73.90% participation, 4.50% unemployment (Employment Security Department county profiles).
- Females with children under 18: 779,573 people, 71.90% participation, 4.30% unemployment (Employment Security Department county profiles).
- Females with children under 6 only: 183,193 people, 68.60% participation, 4.70% unemployment (Employment Security Department county profiles).
- Females with children under 6 and 6 to 17: 157,076 people, 61.80% participation, 5.60% unemployment (Employment Security Department county profiles).
- Females with children 6 to 17 only: 439,304 people, 76.80% participation, 3.70% unemployment (Employment Security Department county profiles).
The sex split is notable because men and women show different participation levels but similar unemployment levels. Men have a higher participation rate, while women in the supplied data show a slightly lower unemployment rate (Employment Security Department county profiles).
Family status adds another useful layer. Among women with children, participation remains substantial, but the presence and age mix of children appear to align with different labor force patterns. The highest participation rate in this group is 76.80% for females with children 6 to 17 only, while the lowest is 61.80% for females with children under 6 and 6 to 17 (Employment Security Department county profiles).
Education and family status differences
Education is one of the strongest separators in the dataset. The participation and unemployment figures move in a clear direction as educational attainment rises (Employment Security Department county profiles).
Education groups
| Education level | Labor force participation rate | Unemployment rate |
|---|---|---|
| Less than a high school diploma | 66.10% | 7.10% |
| High school graduates | 73.50% | 5.50% |
| Some college or associate’s degree | 77.80% | 4.50% |
| Bachelor’s degree or higher | 86.60% | 2.80% |
This is one of the clearest patterns in the entire dataset. As educational attainment rises, labor force participation rises and unemployment falls (Employment Security Department county profiles). The shift from less than a high school diploma to bachelor’s degree or higher is especially large: participation rises from 66.10% to 86.60%, while unemployment falls from 7.10% to 2.80% (Employment Security Department county profiles).
Poverty and disability
- Residents below the poverty level: 430,738 people, 45.00% participation, 22.10% unemployment (Employment Security Department county profiles).
- Residents at or above the poverty level: 4,140,197 people, 83.60% participation, 3.60% unemployment (Employment Security Department county profiles).
- Residents with any disability: 501,627 people, 50.60% participation, 10.00% unemployment (Employment Security Department county profiles).
These numbers show some of the sharpest differences in the dataset. Residents below the poverty level have a 22.10% unemployment rate, which is far above the rate for residents at or above the poverty level at 3.60% (Employment Security Department county profiles). Similarly, residents with any disability have a 50.60% participation rate and a 10.00% unemployment rate, which places them well away from the overall age-16-and-over benchmark of 64.70% participation and 5.00% unemployment (Employment Security Department county profiles).
What the demographic splits reveal
The demographic data does not point to a single workforce story. Instead, it shows several overlapping labor markets inside one state:
- Young workers face much higher unemployment than prime-age workers.
- Education is strongly associated with higher participation and lower unemployment.
- Poverty status and disability status are linked to much weaker labor market outcomes.
- Race, ethnicity, sex, and family status all shape participation and unemployment in different ways (Employment Security Department county profiles).
What the workforce numbers suggest
The most important thing about Washington workforce statistics is that they are internally consistent. The monthly data, sector data, wage data, and demographic data all point in the same direction: Washington has a large workforce, a service-heavy job base, a strong high-wage upper tier, and meaningful labor market variation across demographic groups (Employment Security Department county profiles).
A few final data-backed patterns stand out:
- December 2025 unemployment at 5.3% was higher than December 2024 unemployment at 4.3%, showing a weaker labor market at the end of the period (Employment Security Department county profiles).
- Service-providing employment at 3,151,500 jobs dwarfed goods-producing employment at 484,800 jobs, reinforcing the state’s service orientation (Employment Security Department county profiles).
- Private education and health services and professional and business services were the two largest listed industries by employment in December 2025 (Employment Security Department county profiles).
- Management of companies and enterprises and information were the highest-paying industries in the 2024 wage table, each far above the statewide average wage of $92,467 (Employment Security Department county profiles).
- Bachelor’s degree or higher had the strongest labor market profile in the education table, with 86.60% participation and 2.80% unemployment (Employment Security Department county profiles).
If you are trying to understand Washington workforce statistics as a whole, the dataset points to one central idea: scale matters, but composition matters just as much. The state is not just large. It is large, service-based, high-wage in selected sectors, and uneven across demographic and educational groups (Employment Security Department county profiles).