Adding to a string of news in Washington's jobs picture, the Employment Security Department announced today that the number of people receiving unemployment benefits this year dropped by 12 percent from 2010.

In 2009, the state hit a record for the number of people receiving jobless benefits – which help them pay the bills while they look for a new job or seek training. The state topped that record in 2010 when unemployment collection hit an all-time high of 503,000 people.

This year, that figure dropped to 470,000 – still too many. And the drop is not all good news, according to the department.

“Some of the decline is due to an improved economy, and some of it is due to unemployed workers simply running out of benefits,” said Employment Security Commissioner Paul Trause in a statement. 

By the end of December, about 70,000 workers will have exhausted all of their unemployment benefits.