Total employment in the Spokane-Spokane Valley Metropolitan Statistical Area came in at just over 274,700 for March, up about 100 jobs from the year-earlier month, according to preliminary figures released by the Washington state Employment Security Department. 

While the number of people with jobs stayed roughly the same as it was a year earlier, the unemployment rate in the MSA rose by nearly a percentage, to 5.7% last month from 4.8% in March of 2023. 

Revised numbers for February showed about 400 more jobs in the MSA that month than had been estimated initially. Even with the increase, however, total jobs that month remained lower than employment in the year-earlier month. 

Statewide, employers added about 57,800 jobs during the 12-month period ending in March, according to preliminary figures released by the ESD. The statewide unemployment rate, however, ticked upward to 4.8% in March, from 4.5% a year earlier, preliminary data show.