Snohomish County’s jobless rate edged down in July, fueled by continued hiring by aerospace companies and a surge in new jobs with temporary agencies.
The county had a 4.8 percent unemployment rate for the month, the state’s Employment Security Department reported. That’s down from June’s revised jobless rate.
The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased during the month, to 5.7 percent. Nationally, unemployment was steady at 5 percent, the department said.
Snohomish County has gained 8,400 jobs in the past year, state labor economist Donna Thompson said. The county’s adding jobs far faster than the state as a whole, she added, with job growth of 3.9 percent, compared to a state average of 2.3 percent.
Thompson called the county figures “good news for an economy that’s bouncing back once again.”
Much of last month’s gains, including 500 of the 1,200 new jobs created in the month, are the result of increased hiring by temporary service agencies, Thompson said. That’s a key statistic that economists watch, because companies are more likely to hire such workers at the start of a recovery, rather than invest in hiring a permanent employee.
Manufacturers in the county also continued to add workers. Food processors added 300 seasonal workers during the month, while aerospace manufacturers, such as the Boeing Co. and its suppliers, added another 200 people.
Total employment in aerospace, which is a key industry because it employs so many people and pays relatively high wages, was at 24,500 last month, an increase of 3.4 percent from July 2004.
The growth almost offset seasonal job losses. State and local government employment dropped by 1,400 workers in July as schools and community colleges slowed down for the summer.
In addition, another 100 jobs were lost in the telecommunications sector, the result of continued layoffs at the former AT&T Wireless, now owned by Cingular.
Statewide, more people were working in July than in June, but the unemployment rate went up anyway, because of an increase in the number of people seeking work, the department said.
Another 25,900 people found jobs in July, the state said.
State Employment Security Commissioner Karen Lee described the report as “impressive,” adding that “we’ve now seen two straight months of extraordinary job gains, and healthy labor force growth provides Washington’s economy with room to expand.”
Reporter Bryan Corliss: 425-339-3454 or corliss@heraldnet.com.
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