On the heels of the first month of positive job numbers in more than a year, a new job-vacancy report provides further evidence that Washington’s economic outlook may be brightening, state officials say.

Job openings fell an estimated 2 percent between spring 2009 and fall 2009, according to Employment Security’s Fall 2009 Washington Job-Vacancy Survey.

At first glance, not great news. But, officials say, consider what happened during the same span in 2008: job vacancies dropped by 32 percent.

“Two percent is a very small drop, especially compared to last year, and possibly an indicator of job growth on the horizon,” said Dave Wallace, chief economist for Employment Security.

According to the survey, job vacancies last fall were highest in the metropolitan areas of King, Pierce, Snohomish and Spokane counties. In terms of industries, vacancies were highest in health care, retail, professional and technical services, and accommodation.