Whatcom County’s unemployment rate showed a steep decline from March to April
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- Whatcom County's unemployment rate declined to 3.7% in April from 4.3% in March.
- Bellingham saw a monthly drop in unemployment, falling to 3.4% from 4%.
- Washington state's unemployment rate held steady at 4.4%, down from 4.6% last year.
Monthly unemployment rates for Whatcom County and Bellingham decreased again in April, following a steady drop in unemployment since February 2025.
Whatcom County
Whatcom County had a 3.7% unemployment rate with 3,979 unemployed people in April, a decrease of 0.6% and 576 people compared to March.
In March, Whatcom County’s unemployment rate was 4.3%, with 4,555 residents receiving unemployment benefits, also a decrease from the previous month.
Whatcom County’s unemployment rate is also down compared to the same period of the previous year, as the April 2024 unemployment rate was 4.5%.
Bellingham
The city of Bellingham’s unemployment rate also decreased month to month. The city’s unemployment rate was 3.4% in April, with 1,648 people unemployed, a decrease from March’s 4% unemployment rate, with 1,896 people unemployed.
Washington
Washington’s preliminary seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate slightly increased from March to April, according to the Washington State Employment Security Department’s April 2025 monthly employment report.
In April, Washington’s unemployment rate was 4.4%, with 179,187 people in the state unemployed. In March, the unemployment rate was also 4.4%, with 177,160 unemployed people, 2,027 fewer than in April, according to the report.
Washington had the 13th-highest unemployment rate in the country in both March and April, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Compared to the same month last year, Washington’s unemployment rate is lower. In April 2024, Washington’s unemployment rate was 4.6%, with 185,599 people in the state unemployed, 6,412 more than April of this year.
Data is provided by the Washington State Employment Security Department and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
This story was originally published May 21, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
