National report says jobs on the rise but some Seattle businesses cutting positions

SEATTLE — A new report says more jobs are opening up and unemployment rates are going down. But the situation when it comes to jobs is a little more mixed, especially in our region.

In Seattle, Zulily reported that it will slash hundreds of workers, according to the state’s Employment Security Department.

Those cuts are expected to come in February and will impact several offices in the Seattle area.

This is the third round of layoffs for the company.  Other companies like Amazon, Zillow, Expedia and even Blue Origin - the space exploration firm — have reportedly also seen some cuts, according to a group tracking job losses in the tech industry.

But according to the feds, jobs are on the rise.

A new report from the US Labor Department says employers added nearly 200,000 jobs last month and unemployment fell for the first time in three months to 3.7%.

For October in Washington state, unemployment was at 3.8%.

Some national analysts say those numbers are back to where we were pre-pandemic.

Mark Hamrick is an economic analyst with Bankrate who says some recent gains in the numbers are skewed a bit by striking workers headed back to work.

“Essentially you have to sort of set that off to the side, and then see that we’re very close to October’s payroll gain of 150,000 jobs added.”

Some economic analysts are predicting or hoping that the Federal Reserve stops raising interest rates, but Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was wary of any solid predictions one way or the other.

Zulily won’t be the only company announcing cuts. Washington’s Employment Security Department says statewide, six companies will enter the 2024 with a plan for job cuts, with nearly 700 workers losing their jobs.

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