Unemployment is markedly worse in the Tri-Cities compared to a year ago according to the latest figures released by the Washington Employment Security Department. 

The June unemployment rate of 4.2% was a decline from the month prior and remains below the state average of 5.2%. There’s also more than 1,200 additional people who have jobs in the region compared to May. 

But the latest figures are higher than they were in June of 2025, when the unemployment rate sat at 3.7%. Additionally, 700 more people were working and a thousand fewer people were receiving unemployment benefits compared to June 2026. The size of the labor pool has remained essentially flat. 

The jobs numbers align with the national workforce trend in June 2026.  

Job growth across the U.S. slowed in June to an increase of 57,000 after three straight months of gaining more than 100,000, according to a report of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

The jobs increases were especially weak considering that the men’s World Cup soccer tournament likely added 40,000 jobs in June, said Elise Gould, senior economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, in a statement. Gould said the unemployment rate drop was “for the wrong reasons” as 720,000 people left the labor market. 

The industries adding the most jobs nationally in June were business and professional services (36,000 jobs), social assistance (up 25,000 jobs) and healthcare (22,000 jobs).  

There was a drop of 61,000 jobs in leisure and hospitality jobs, reflecting weaker-than-usual seasonal hiring for the summer, the BLS said.  

Stateline, an online publication of the nonprofit States Newsroom, contributed to this report.