Washingtonians Concerned About Job Security

**In-class assignment**

News Now: 29 percent of Washington state workers are concerned about losing their job, according to last month's Washington State Workplace Confidence Survey conducted by Harris/Decima on behalf of Everest College.

Following the economic troubles of 2009, Washington residents have seen the unemployment rates rise to almost 10 percent, the highest in the state since the economic crisis of the early 1980's, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics.

With nearly a third of the state's residents fearing joining the ranks of the unemployed, many Washington residents are considering returning to school, nearly 36 percent according to the survey. Everest College's enrollment has risen 56 percent since January 2009.

The survey found that those with incomes less than 40,000 dollars fear losing their job twice as much as those with incomes over 80,000 dollars (37 percent to 18 percent, respectively). Nearly two-thirds of Washington residents (63 percent) say they suffer from some sort of work-related stress.