Source: Unemployment Security Department

There are more signs that the economic slowdown is starting to hit the state's software industry, with a report today showing that hiring in the sector virtually came to a standstill last month. The state's Employment Security Department indicated that employment was flat for the month of November when compared to the previous month.

That follows several months of growth in which the software publishing industry added 4,400 jobs during the first 10 months of the year. In October,, the cooling trend started with 200 jobs added in. Still, jobs in the category, which now total 53,000, are up 9.1 percent in the past 12 months.

Meanwhile, the state' s unemployment rose slightly from 6.3 percent to 6.4 percent in November as 11,700 non-agricultural jobs were lost.

“Just as we saw with the 2002 recession, Washington’s economy held up longer than most of the nation, but we’re quickly catching up now,” said Employment Security Commissioner Karen Lee. More in the executive summary.

Sectors taking a big hit during the  month of November, included residential specialty-trade construction (loss of 3,300 jobs); clothing and accessory stores (loss of 1,800 jobs); administrative and support services (loss of 1,600 jobs); and general merchandise stores (loss of 1,200 jobs).