Washington's unemployment rate rose to 9.5 percent during the month of December, up from a revised 9 percent for November. Even though the unemployment rate increased, the state Employment Security Department noted that the job loss rate continues to decline. During the second half of 2009, Washington saw 23,700 jobs lost. That compared to 80,000 jobs lost for the first half of the year.

Nonetheless, the situation is not looking good when compared to December 2008 when unemployment in the state stood at 6.5 percent. In Seattle, the unemployment rate last month came in at 9.2 percent, which compared to 4.9 percent for December 2008.

In the information category -- where a number of high-tech jobs are classified -- employment numbers fell by 400 jobs during the month of December. For the year, the category lost 5,300 jobs.

The state estimated that 334,265 were out of work in the state. You can access the full report here.

The state report follows a survey released yesterday which indicated that Seattle was the 14th easiest city in the country in which to find a job.