Washington state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate climbed to 9.2 percent in March, according to figures released today by the Employment Security Department. The information services sector, which includes software publishing and telecommunications, lost 400 jobs (about 0.4 percent) compared with the previous month.

The overall unemployment rate is up from 8.3 percent in February. It's the third straight month that the rate has increased by more than 0.5 percentage points, according to the state. The state described that part of the trend as unprecedented. During the last three U.S. recessions, the state's monthly unemployment rate increased by more than 0.5 percent only once -- in November 2001.

Read the full report here: PDF, 9 pages.

According to the state, an estimated 344,069 people were unemployed and looking for work in the state last month.

The state described the job losses in the information services sector as more moderate than in other sectors. Microsoft's first wave of layoffs, including 872 jobs in Washington state, officially took effect in late March, two months after the company's January announcement.

Update, 11:15 a.m.: State officials said on a conference call that the March numbers reported today do not yet include the impact of the Microsoft layoffs, because they took place later in the month.