Unemployment hits 9.6% in Wahkiakum

Wahkiakum County's unemployment rate hit 9.6 percent in December, according to the latest figures form the state Employment Security Department.

The figures said 180 of 1,810 people in the labor force were out of work. In November, 150 of 1,790 in the labor force, 8.1 percent, were out of work.

In December, 2007, 130 of 1,690 in the labor force, 7.9 percent, were out of work.

Statewide, unemployment increased from 6.3 percent in November to 7.1 percent in December. In December, 2007, the rate was 4.8 percent.

Cowlitz County's rate rose from 9.5 percent in November to 11.5 percent in December, the state's highest rate. The rate was 6.8 percent in December, 2007.

Pacific County's rate rose from 9.7 percent in November to 9.9 percent in December. In December, 2007, the rate was 10.2 percent.

Whitman County had the state's lowest rate, 3.8 percent, and in non-metro areas, Lewis and Columbia counties were highest at 11.4 percent, with Grays Harbor close behind at 11.3 percent.

In metropolitan areas, Seattle had the lowest rate at 5.7 percent, and Longview-Kelso had the highest, 11.5 percent.