The unemployment rate is the percentage of employable people actively seeking work out of the total number of employable people, determined by a monthly survey.  The statistics shown are updated monthly by the Washington State Employment Security Department’s (WSESD) Updated Resident Labor Force and Employment statistics. 

The unemployment rate is considered healthy within a range of four to six percent.  A rate below four percent is viewed as inflationary, causing upward pressure on wages. While an unemployment rate above six percent is considered unhealthy due to the threat of reduced consumer spending.

It is a common misperception that the unemployment rate is determined solely by the number of claims filed for unemployment insurance benefits, excluding those who have exhausted their benefits from the calculation. This is not the case. While unemployment claims are valuable in assessing labor market conditions, this number is but one of several, including a survey of households and a survey of businesses, that are used to estimate the unemployment rate. 

The WSESD publishes both unadjusted and seasonally adjusted employment data.  The unadjusted data is simply that—unadjusted. It is the WSESD’s estimate of employment during any particular month based on a survey of businesses. The seasonally adjusted data, a process which takes into consideration typical seasonal variations, adjusts the data for the expected variation and provides a seasonally adjusted estimate of employment.

Since the beginning of 2011 the unemployment rate in Pierce County has been higher than for the rest of the state averaging 9.7% per month compared to 9.2% for the State as a whole.  The 9.1% unemployment rate in October 2011 means that nearly 35,000 able individuals were without employment in Pierce County, which is about the same compared to October 2010.