For the second year in a row, Washington State showed the highest economic growth rate of any state in the nation the first half of last year, according to the latest annual report by the state Employment Security Department.

The 131-page report said Washington registered 4.7 percent growth in 2017, well above the national 2.2 percent growth rate for the same period. It uses gross domestic product to compare Washington’s performance compared to other states and the nation. The report covers comparisons for 2017 annual statistics, as well as those for the first three quarters of 2018, based on the available data at the time this report was written, in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Other highlights:

• Personal income rose 6.1 percent in Washington between the second quarter of 2017 and the same time in 2018.
• Seasonally-adjusted non-farm employment increased 3.1 percent from September 2017 to September 2018.
• The vast majority of jobs added in the state from September 2017 to a year later, 97,600, came from the private sector. Government added 5,800 jobs in the same time period.

Click here to review the entire report.