(Olympia, WA)  --  Washington's jobless rate is slightly higher.  The state Employment Security Department says the rate rose in December to six-point-three percent, up from six-point-two percent in November.  However, officials say year-over-year employment growth in Washington was the highest since 1997, with December's six-point-three-percent rate comparing to six-point-seven percent in December 2013.  Earlier this week, the Oregon Employment Department reported the December jobless rate slipped to six-point-seven percent, as the state added an estimated 82-hundred jobs last month.