County lost 100 aerospace manufacturing jobs in June

EVERETT — Snohomish County shed another 100 aerospace manufacturing jobs in June, according to recent data from the state Employment Security Department. Since last year, the county has lost more than 7,000 jobs in aerospace manufacturing.

“Snohomish County’s recovery is lagging behind the state as aerospace and related manufacturing industries continue to struggle,” wrote regional labor economist Anneliese Vance-Sherman, with the Employment Security Department.

Statewide, however, June was a good month for Washington employment numbers, Vance-Sherman wrote. The state is continuing to recover jobs lost during the pandemic, and the unemployment rate continues to drop.

Snohomish County’s unemployment rate has improved drastically since last year, according to a labor area report Vance-Sherman wrote for June. The county’s June 2021 unemployment rate, which is not seasonally adjusted, was 6.1%. Last year, the June unemployment rate was 11.2%. (Snohomish County recorded its highest unemployment rate ever in April 2020, when it reached 19.3%.)

Compared to the rest of the state, however, Snohomish County still has a relatively high unemployment rate. The county’s rate is the sixth-highest in Washington.

Manufacturing, which employs the most people in Snohomish County, hasn’t recovered jobs that were lost over the past year. Manufacturing accounts for 50,500 jobs in the county, with the vast majority in aerospace product and parts manufacturing. Aerospace manufacturing jobs declined by 17.8%, and the industry now employs 32,800 people.

Despite heavy losses in manufacturing jobs, construction employment has increased. The industry gained 600 jobs from May to June. Most of the increase was from specialty trade contractors, which added 1,800 jobs over the past year.

The only other sector to see an employment increase in June was leisure and hospitality, which added 300 jobs.

The two industries with the largest one-year recoveries were educational and health services, as well as professional and business services, according to the labor area report. Educational and health services added 2,600 jobs over the year. Professional and business services added 2,400.