Employers hired nearly 117,800 new employees into new or existing vacancies during that period, but most of the new hires were farmworkers, retail salespeople or cashiers, according to the survey.
The state also had 52,000 job vacancies last spring. Occupations with the most vacancies were in sales, registered nursing and customer service. Industries with the most job openings were in health care and social assistance, followed by retail trade, accommodation and food service. More than 78 percent of the openings were in urban Western Washington.
Other survey results:
-Average starting wage for employees hired statewide in January through March was $15.45.
-Average starting wage in urban areas west of the Cascades was $16.84; the average in urban Eastern Washington was $12.47.
-Average starting wage in rural areas statewide was about the same: $11.72 in Western Washington and $11.63 in Eastern Washington.
-Employers reported that it took an average of 29 days to fill their vacancies.
