WHATCOM COUNTY, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – Whatcom County’s economy saw some promising news last month in the state’s latest jobs report.

The Washington State Employment Security Department reports that the number of jobs in the county stayed exactly the same from August to September.

That came with around 1,100 less people reporting they were unemployed, causing the non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate to drop a full percentage point to 3.5%.

It reflected the county’s largest month-over-month drop in unemployment rate since September 2024.

Skagit County saw a similar trend last month, with its jobless rate also dropping a full percentage point to 3.7%.

Both counties’ unemployment rates are slightly lower than the same time last year.

Overall, Whatcom and Skagit fell below the non-seasonally adjusted statewide unemployment rate of 4.3%.