Source: MoneyTree

Is the venture capital industry showing signs of life or sinking like a stone? It just depends which information source you want to believe.

Over the past week, we've covered third quarter venture capital reports from ChubbyBrain and Dow Jones VentureSource. Both surveys indicated that VC dollars in Washington state were down by more than 45 percent compared to the previous quarter. (ChubbyBrain showed a drop from $275 million to $144 million, while VentureSource reported a decline from $283 million to $147 million).

Pretty consistent, right? Well, not so fast folks.

Now, a third survey -- released this evening by the National Venture Capital Association and PricewaterhouseCoopers -- indicates that venture capital dollars actually rose in the state. The MoneyTree report shows that $181 million was invested in 22 deals, a 41 percent increase over the second quarter. What's going on?

In fact, the $181 million figure would be the biggest quarter so far this year, according to MoneyTree data.

The information providers -- ChubbyBrain, VentureSource and NVCA/Pricewaterhouse -- all use different methodologies to track and tabulate deals. Taken together, you can get a sense of what's happening in the market.

For example, it appears that the total venture dollars invested in the state fall somewhere between $144 million and $181 million for the quarter.

And while it is open to debate on whether that is up or down compared to the previous quarter, one thing is certain. The reports showed a significant downturn in the number of deals and dollars when compared to the same period last year, signaling that the global economic meltdown is having a serious impact on startup investing.

Washington state venture investments from 2007-2009. Source: MoneyTree

Nonetheless, some believe that the market is actually showing signs of recovery, as we pointed out last week.

Washington ranked fifth in venture capital dollars, according to the MoneyTree report. That's pretty consistent with the first two quarters, when the state finished fifth and sixth, respectively.

Oregon saw a significant uptick in deals and dollars during the quarter, with five deals totaling $37 million, according to the MoneyTree report. That compared to just one deal valued at $3.6 million in the second quarter.

On a national basis, venture capitalists invested $4.8 billion in 637 deals during the third quarter. The dollar total was up 17 percent compared to the second quarter, though the number of deals fell by three percent, MoneyTree found.

Here's a look at the Washington state third quarter VC deals as tracked by the MoneyTree report.