Published: Wednesday, August 19, 2009
County jobless rate falls to 9.8%
EVERETT — Despite a dip in the county and state jobless rates last month, Washington officials refrained on Tuesday from proclaiming that an economic revival is certain.
“As much as I'd like to say we've hit bottom, I just can't do that,” said Donna Thompson, labor economist for the Employment Security Department.
Snohomish County saw its unemployment rate decline in July to 9.8 percent, down from a revised figure of 10 percent in June. The state's unemployment rate also dropped in July to 9.1 percent from 9.2 percent in June.
The county's unemployment rate has outpaced the state's the last several months — an unusual trend, Thompson said. However, she expects Snohomish County's jobless rate to hover between 9 percent and 10 percent over the next few months.
Snohomish County has lost 11,500 jobs since July 2008. And while aerospace is one of the few sectors that remains up year-over-year, Thompson expects to see a drop in aerospace jobs due to previously announced layoffs at the Boeing Co., the county's largest employer.
Year over year, Washington had 123,200 fewer jobs last month than in July 2008, a 4.1 percent decrease. Nationally, employment declined by 4.2 percent over the past year.
“While today's news is reassuring and indicates that the economy may be stabilizing, this does not mean the national recession is over,” said Gov. Chris Gregoire, in a statement. “I continue to work closely with President Obama to distribute federal recovery funds efficiently and transparently to keep and create as many jobs in Washington state as possible.”
An estimated 315,853 people in Washington — including 38,175 Snohomish County residents — were unemployed and looking for work in July.
In Snohomish County, 6,737 new unemployment claims were filed in July, compared to 6,703 in June. The county's continued unemployment claims declined from June to July by about 600 claims to 21,074. That's still nearly triple the number of claims filed in July 2008.
Both construction and retail added positions in the county last month. But Thompson believes those increases to be seasonal. Construction employment typically reaches its peak in August.
The health services sector added about 300 jobs in the county in July. Thompson expects that trend to continue as the baby boomer generation puts increasing pressure on the sector.
“As much as I'd like to say we've hit bottom, I just can't do that,” said Donna Thompson, labor economist for the Employment Security Department.
Snohomish County saw its unemployment rate decline in July to 9.8 percent, down from a revised figure of 10 percent in June. The state's unemployment rate also dropped in July to 9.1 percent from 9.2 percent in June.
The county's unemployment rate has outpaced the state's the last several months — an unusual trend, Thompson said. However, she expects Snohomish County's jobless rate to hover between 9 percent and 10 percent over the next few months.
Snohomish County has lost 11,500 jobs since July 2008. And while aerospace is one of the few sectors that remains up year-over-year, Thompson expects to see a drop in aerospace jobs due to previously announced layoffs at the Boeing Co., the county's largest employer.
Year over year, Washington had 123,200 fewer jobs last month than in July 2008, a 4.1 percent decrease. Nationally, employment declined by 4.2 percent over the past year.
“While today's news is reassuring and indicates that the economy may be stabilizing, this does not mean the national recession is over,” said Gov. Chris Gregoire, in a statement. “I continue to work closely with President Obama to distribute federal recovery funds efficiently and transparently to keep and create as many jobs in Washington state as possible.”
An estimated 315,853 people in Washington — including 38,175 Snohomish County residents — were unemployed and looking for work in July.
In Snohomish County, 6,737 new unemployment claims were filed in July, compared to 6,703 in June. The county's continued unemployment claims declined from June to July by about 600 claims to 21,074. That's still nearly triple the number of claims filed in July 2008.
Both construction and retail added positions in the county last month. But Thompson believes those increases to be seasonal. Construction employment typically reaches its peak in August.
The health services sector added about 300 jobs in the county in July. Thompson expects that trend to continue as the baby boomer generation puts increasing pressure on the sector.
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