Although seasonal hiring accounted for most of the increase, Sheryl Hutchison with the Employment Security Department says more than two-thirds of the vacancies were for permanent jobs.
She says Washington employers also increased their external hiring by 61 percent between the first quarter of 2012 and the middle of the year.
Altogether, employers hired more than 190,000 new workers from June through August last year.
On average, it took employers 19 days to fill their job vacancies.
Statewide, the average hourly starting wage across all industries and occupations was $13.48.
