See how Pierce, Thurston counties fared in August for employment

The unemployment rate in Pierce and Thurston counties dipped slightly in August compared with the previous month, but remains higher than at the same time last year.

The state Employment Security Department released county-level unemployment figures for August on Tuesday, which measures nonfarm employment.

The state says Pierce County’s August unemployment rate was 6.5 percent, while Thurston County saw 5.9 percent unemployment for nonfarm jobs.

Those numbers are down slightly from July’s 6.7 percent in Pierce County and 6.3 percent in Thurston County.

Both figures are a little higher than at the same time last year — but a far cry from five years ago, when Pierce County topped 10 percent unemployment and Thurston saw 9.1 percent unemployment in August 2011.

This story was originally published September 20, 2016 at 4:04 PM with the headline "See how Pierce, Thurston counties fared in August for employment."