Washington added about 10,600 jobs in May; unemployment held at 5.2%, state economist says

Annalise Van Sherman, chief labor economist at the Employment Security Department, said the state added about 10,600 jobs in May and that the unemployment rate remained at 5.2% during a department media availability on the May 2026 employment report.

"Overall, when we're looking at the employment report for May 2026, it was a positive report," Van Sherman said, adding that the May job gain is "the highest we've seen since late since December 2024." She said the labor force has grown only modestly over the year, with about 17,250 more workers (roughly 0.4%).

Van Sherman identified leisure and hospitality, manufacturing, construction and government as the sectors with the largest monthly gains. "Leisure and hospitality increased with the largest increases in May," she said, noting accommodation and food services accounted for roughly 3,100 of the gains and arts, entertainment and recreation added about 1,700 jobs. She said manufacturing gains were driven in part by aerospace and food manufacturing.

Some sectors lost jobs over the month, Van Sherman said, including wholesale trade, other services and professional and business services. "For the most part, most sectors added jobs this month," she said, but added that year-over-year changes remain small and that the overall pattern has been one of slow growth.

Reporters pressed for local detail. "Can you drill down a little bit more for Pierce County numbers?" asked Debbie Cockrell of the News Tribune. Van Sherman replied that county-level figures are published separately and are not included in the initial statewide release: "I'm not able at this time to drill down to specific counties... local numbers to be published on Tuesday next week." Chris Baron, the department's director of communications and outreach, and Van Sherman noted the federal-to-state-to-local release sequence and confirmed county reports will appear the following Tuesday at 10 a.m.

On weekly unemployment insurance indicators, Van Sherman characterized initial claims as a noisy series that can jump week to week: "The initial claims... they've been jumping around a lot. It's been a really noisy dataset." She contrasted that with continued claims, which she described as following a steadier upward arc. The communications team offered to provide the detailed weekly figures and moving averages in a follow-up email to reporters.

When asked whether seasonal factors or events such as the World Cup could explain some May hiring, Van Sherman noted the published numbers are seasonally adjusted and said the World Cup could be one of several contributing factors to gains in leisure and hospitality. She also put the recent unemployment trend in context for revenue forecasters: the department's data feed into the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council's models, and current signals point to slow, steady growth rather than a sharp downturn.

Van Sherman also discussed longer-term labor supply trends, saying retirements and demographic shifts have compressed labor force participation over decades. "The labor force participation rate right now is about where it was in the 1970s," she said, noting population and retirement patterns are important drivers of the labor-force picture.

The department said it will publish county reports next Tuesday at 10 a.m., and the June statewide employment numbers are expected July 15; officials said they plan another media availability when the June figures are released.