http://nwpr.org en http://nwpr.org/post/washington-oregon-jobless-pictures-improve <p><span id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_lblStory">Washington employers added 58-hundred new jobs in April, lowering the state&#39;s unemployment rate for the first time in more than three years.</span><span id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_lblStory"> The Oregon jobless rate held steady at 10-point-six percent, the same as in March, making it six straight months without</span> any significant change. But that was still nearly a point less than April 2009, when the rate was 11.5 percent.</p> Tue, 18 May 2010 19:14:00 +0000 2167 at http://nwpr.org http://nwpr.org/post/idaho-jobless-rate-drops-second-consecutive-month <p><span id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_lblStory">Idaho&#39;s unemployment rate made its largest one month fall in more than a quarter century. The three-tenths of one percent decline in April puts the jobless rate at 9.1 [nine-point-one] percent. That&#39;s the lowest in the Northwest&hellip;and it&#39;s Idaho&#39;s second monthly decrease in a row.&nbsp;Bob Fick from the state Labor Department says&nbsp;employers aren&#39;t hiring in large numbers. But he says temporary agencies are getting busier.He says employment growth this spring almost looks normal.</span></p> Fri, 07 May 2010 18:33:00 +0000 2171 at http://nwpr.org