Men appear to be losing their jobs in far greater numbers than women in Washington, primarily because the two hardest-hit industries are construction and manufacturing.
Men make up 68 percent of all the newly unemployed in the past 12 months, according to data compiled by the state Employment Security Department.
The state announced earlier this week that Washington's unemployment rate reached 9.2 percent in March. That's the highest since May 1984.
The male construction worker represents one-fifth of all unemployed people in the state. The next largest group of unemployed is men who work in manufacturing. The other industries don't even come close.
Of the various age ranges compiled by the state, 26 to 35 year old men make up the largest number of unemployed.
Why men?
"I think it's just the industries that have been hit," said Mary Foley, a state analyst with Labor Market and Economic Analysis who compiled the data.
The data represent everyone who has filed a claim for unemployment in the past 12 months. The statistics show that men are being affected disproportionately because men make up 54 percent of the Washington labor force, equal to the national average, but make up 68 percent of Washington's newly unemployed.
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