Seattle area’s job rebound moves slowly | Coronavirus Economy daily chart

The number of job openings posted for the Seattle area has grown more slowly than national or state counterparts since the economy’s coronavirus-driven shutdown hit bottom in April.

Six weeks ago, job postings for the Seattle area were at 63.5% of their Feb. 1 level, while nationally the comparable figure was 73.3%. That difference of 9.8 percentage points has expanded to 13.2 as of July 17.

The slower resumption of hiring here correlates with the slower re-opening of many businesses in Washington than in some states. It’s also bad news for the 40,466 workers who filed initial claims for unemployment insurance in just the week ending July 11, a 42.5% jump from the prior week even as the national pace of new claims dropped.