The unemployment rate for the state of Washington rose a half a percentage point in December to 9.5 percent.

Employment shrank by 3,800 jobs in December, which was a jump from the 1,100 jobs that were lost in November when the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 9 percent. The latest results are from a report issued Wednesday by Washington’s Employment Security Department.

Despite the latest figures, the number of job losses overall in Washington is trending downward, according to the Employment Security Department’s chief economist, Dave Wallace. Washington lost an estimated 23,700 jobs in the last six months of 2009, a major improvement over the 80,000 jobs that were lost during the first half of the year.

“Employment is a lagging economic indicator, so coming out of a recession, it is typical for jobs to be the last thing to return,” said Wallace. “But overall, job losses are clearly trending downward, and that’s a positive sign.”

National unemployment currently stands at around 10 percent.