YAKIMA, Wash. -- For the first time in four years, Yakima County's unemployment rate for January reached double-digits as employers tightened operations in the face of the national recession.

About 13,410 county residents were without jobs last month compared with 10,000 during January 2008, rates of 11.1 and 8.6, respectively, according to preliminary figures released Tuesday by the state Employment Security Department.

Statewide, the estimated unemployment rate hit 7.8 percent last month, surpassing the national rate for the first time since the end of 2006, as more than 300,000 people tried to find a job, state officials said Tuesday.

The preliminary national unemployment rate for January was 7.6 percent. The last time the state unemployment rate was at 7.8 percent was in February 1987.

"It is very difficult to accurately forecast a recovery date," said the state's chief economist, Mary Ayala.

The state numbers are seasonally adjusted, while the Yakima County figures are not.

The last time Yakima County saw a double-digit unemployment in January was 2005, when the rate was 10.5 percent. It was even higher in January 2004, when it reached 12.9 percent.

The jump in joblessness reflects the typical seasonal drop in agricultural employment, but also effects from the national recession, said Doug Tweedy, regional economist for Employment Security.

All things considered, it could have been worse. Yakima County has seen much higher levels of unemployment -- in January 2002, for example, the unemployment rate was 14 percent.

Overall, Yakima County saw a net gain of nonagricultural and agricultural jobs of 425 and 390, respectively, in 2008, when the recession was well under way, Tweedy said.

"Yakima County has weathered this storm fairly well," he said.

But the county still saw a net loss of jobs across several nonagricultural industries last month.

Last month, the county had 76,200 nonagricultural jobs, compared with 76,800 jobs during the same month in 2008.

Only local and state government saw an increase in jobs at 400 and 100, respectively. Most of those jobs came in education, likely a reflection of the expected increase of people retraining for new careers.

Most industries saw a modest loss in jobs as employers struggle to increase economic efficiency.

Health services, which has consistently shown huge gains in the last few years, saw a surprise loss of 100 jobs. But the loss should be considered a temporary correction, Tweedy said.

"I think they've had such a high growth rate in the last three years, that they're getting back to a more sustainable level," he said.

The loss may partially reflect layoffs at Yakima Regional Medical and Cardiac Center, which cut about 2 percent of its work force in December.

In addition, vacant positions at Yakima Regional Medical and Cardiac Center have undergone more scrutiny, said human resources director Angela Beaudry. In some cases, the hospital opted to not fill some positions to improve the efficiency of the hospital's operations.

Most of those positions were not clinical and have little effect on patient care, she said.

"We don't foresee any further reductions," she said.

In the meanwhile, Tweedy expects that the county should see some improvement in the next few months, especially as harvests begin in the spring and summer months.

But the jobs may not be the same ones that employers have cut in the last few months.

"I think there's going to be some churning with jobs," he said. "People may cross industry lines."

* Mai Hoang can be reached at 577-7685 or at mhoang@yakimaherald.com.

* Information from The Associated Press were included in this report.