Seattle's job market loses its edge
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Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios
Seattle's unemployment rate continues to match the state's in a sign that the city is losing its jobs cachet.
Why it matters: Seattle's historically strong job market has typically buoyed Washington's economy.
By the numbers: The state's job count fell by a seasonally adjusted 15,400 in September, per figures released Wednesday. The losses were primarily driven by a drop in government employment, private education and health services jobs.
- Meanwhile, unemployment in both Washington and the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro was 4.8%, compared with 4.1% nationally, per the Washington Employment Security Department.
State of play: After being far lower than the state's for years, Seattle's unemployment rate has matched or exceeded the statewide rate every month since September 2025, according to state chief labor economist Anneliese Vance-Sherman.
- Washington is tied for the fifth-highest unemployment rate in the U.S., per the latest available federal data.
Between the lines: Unemployment still fell for the third month in a row in September. The rate can fall even when jobs disappear because people who leave the labor force — including retirees — aren't counted as unemployed.
- Retiring baby boomers are one reason Washington's labor force has remained flat, Vance-Sherman told Axios.
Zoom in: Several factors could explain Seattle's shift, but layoffs in tech and other white-collar jobs are likely playing a role, Vance-Sherman said.
- Seattle lost 18,000 jobs, most of them downtown, between 2024 and 2025, according to a September analysis by the Downtown Seattle Association, a pro-business advocacy group.
- Meanwhile, Bellevue and Tacoma added jobs over the same period.