PORT ANGELES — Unemployment inched up past 8 percent on the North Olympic Peninsula in October, the state Employment Security Department reported Tuesday.
Clallam County shed 30 jobs as its unemployment rate climbed from a revised 7.8 percent in September to a preliminary 8.4 percent last month, state officials said.
Jefferson County lost 110 jobs and saw its jobless rate rise from a revised 7.6 percent in September to a preliminary 8.3 percent in October.
Jobless rates, which do not account for those who have left the labor force, have been hovering around 8 percent in both counties since July.
Last month, Clallam County added 160 government jobs to help absorb a loss of 190 private-sector jobs.
There were 27,520 Clallam County residents in the labor force, including 2,320 who were actively seeking work.
Jefferson County shed 170 private-sector jobs and gained 60 in the public sector.
The county had 950 residents seeking work from an 11,470-member workforce.
State unemployment went from 6.9 percent to 7.0 percent in October, Employment Security said.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that Washington lost 8,300 private-sector jobs and gained 200 public-sector jobs.
Grays Harbor County had the state’s highest unemployment at 10.9 percent in October. Whitman County in Eastern Washington had the lowest jobless rate at 5.0 percent, state officials said.
The national unemployment rate went from 7.2 percent to 7.3 percent in October, according to the latest jobs report.
