The number of jobs in the Spokane area inched upward in November, as did the unemployment rate, according to preliminary data from the Washington state Employment Security Department. 

An Arkansas businessman has been sentenced in federal court in Spokane to over 16 years in prison and to pay over $20 million for leading a nationwide COVID-relief scam that was uncovered by the Eastern Washington COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force.

William O. Mize, the ringleader behind a massive fraud scheme involving staged accidents and fabricated insurance claims, including one in which a prominent Spokane developer participated, has been sentenced in federal court in Spokane to 12 years in prison.

Total employment in the Spokane-Spokane Valley metropolitan statistical area fell in September, as did the unemployment rate.