Source: Washington State Employment Security Department

The economic picture is getting scarier in Washington, with the state announcing today that the unemployment rate surged to 8.4 percent last month. That's the highest number of unemployed in the state since 1985. And it compares to a 7.8 percent unemployment rate for January. What's even more shocking is that the unemployment rate in the state stood at just  4.7 percent last February.  [Full report, PDF]

The information services category -- which includes software -- actually saw a small uptick in new jobs last month. The state recorded 400 new positions, though it was unclear whether Microsoft's layoffs have been tabulated yet.

Software employment in the state stood at 52,200 as 100 jobs were added. Over the past 12 months, the industry saw 3,000 jobs added for a 6.1 percent gain. The software business a "bell-weather for general economic conditions for the remainder of the recession because of its presence in global markets," the state said. Telecommunications companies also added 300 jobs last month for a 1.2 percent gain. 

In Seattle -- where most of the tech jobs are located -- the unemployment rate stood at 7.8 percent last month. That compares to 4.1 percent for the same period last year.

Despite the fact that 330,572 people are out of work in the state, Washington is in much better shape than our neighbor to the south. Earlier this week, Oregon reported an unemployment rate of 10.8 percent -- the second highest in the country behind Michigan.