Snohomish County job growth rivals King County’s

Published 11:10 pm Tuesday, January 15, 2008

EVERETT — State Labor economist Donna Thompson needed only a few words Tuesday to describe Snohomish County’s economy in 2007.

“We’re smokin’, ” she said of an unemployment report that showed employers in the county created 22,500 jobs last year.

Surprisingly, the amount was nearly equal to that of King County, the state’s major job center, which added 23,400 jobs to its payrolls during 2007.

“Once again, Snohomish County had the fastest-growing economy in the state,” said Thompson, an analyst for the state Employment Security Department.

Thompson said the county’s annual growth rate was 9.2 percent, more than four times the state average of 2 percent.

In raw numbers, the state created 77,700 jobs during the past 12 months, mostly in western Washington. Snohomish County’s contribution was nearly 29 percent of that total of new jobs, King County’s was nearly 31 percent, Pierce County’s was 10.6 percent and Spokane County’s was 6.2 percent.

With strong job growth and strong population growth, the county’s jobless rate remained at 4.2 percent in December, as it was in September, October and November. The state’s unemployment rate rose slightly from 4.7 percent in November to 4.8 percent in December, still a low number.

Why is job growth so strong here?

Think Boeing.

“It’s all due to the 787,” Thompson said, adding the company and other aerospace firms in the county added 5,100 workers during 2007. “That’s gives us a big hunk. Most of the aerospace jobs have been coming up here, not in King County.”

Thompson noted that most areas of the country are losing manufacturing jobs, which typically pay well. “We’re kind of an anomaly,” she said.

During 2007, Snohomish County added 3,500 jobs in construction; 7,600 in manufacturing; 2,400 in trade, transportation and utilities; 1,000 in information; 2,000 in professional and business services; another 2,000 in educational and health services; 1,100 in leisure and hospitality; 500 in repairs and other services; and 2,700 in various government positions.

The only area to lose jobs last year was financial services, which lost 200. That’s the area hurt by the nation’s mortgage mess and it includes 300 jobs lost when MILA of Mountlake Terrace closed its doors and declared bankruptcy. The company had been providing subprime mortgages.

Thompson noted that big banks and other companies in the mortgage business also laid off workers last year.

“The strength in our manufacturing area is really what’s keeping us going here,” she said. “We’re attracting population and our labor force is growing. People are coming here and renting a house and buying groceries.”

King County, with a nonfarm work force of 1,226,000 people, still remains the state’s biggest job center, offering 41 percent of all jobs in Washington. Snohomish County’s work force has grown to 267,000, which amounts to about 9 percent of state jobs. Pierce County actually had more jobs, 284,900 at the end of 2007, or 9.6 percent, but it only created 8,300 jobs last year.

“We’ve been very lucky,” Thompson said. “We’re in the catbird’s seat. We’re very fortunate to be in an area with a lot of high-paying manufacturing jobs.”