OLYMPIA, Wash. (Metro) -- Washington's preliminary seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for July is up to 8.5 percent.
That compares to June's jobless rate of 8.3 percent.
Officials say 298-thousand people across the state were unemployed in July.
Three-hundred-twenty-two thousand workers were jobless in July of last year.
The Employment Security Department's Joe Elling said in a statement that "when you compare where we are now to the same period a year ago, it's apparent that the labor market is improving."
