Local job market still going strong

Published 11:26 pm Sunday, July 22, 2007

Snohomish County’s unemployed workers may not be able to find the job they want, but they should be able to find some type of work, according to the state Employment Security Department.

During the past year, local businesses and government agencies have added 9,600 people to their payrolls, nearly 20 percent of the jobs added throughout the state during that period.

“The county continued to add jobs at a hectic pace in June,” said the Employment Security Department’s Donna Thompson, a labor economist who studies Snohomish County.

She charted the county’s annual growth rate at 4 percent in June, compared to 1.8 percent for the state as a whole.

The fastest-growing industry in the county – aerospace – is no surprise.

The Boeing Co. has been hiring to build its new jet, which already has enough orders to last into 2014. Related jet companies are also ramping up. And it’s not just because of Dreamliner jobs. Orders for the other models assembled in Everett have also increased significantly.

Employment Security numbers show that 500 aerospace workers were hired last month. During the last year, some 4,300 workers have joined the industry. That represents about 45 percent of all the jobs created locally during the past year.

Retailers are also creating jobs as a growing population boosts sales at existing stores and encourages companies to build more.

There were some 2,200 retail jobs added, with nearly half of them going to general merchandise stores. Building material and garden supply stores added 300 workers to help deal with the number of people buying new homes or sprucing up old ones. Food and beverage stores added 100 workers.

Thompson noted that the labor force has grown significantly in the county as new people arrive looking for work. It’s estimated now at 365,000 people, up 5,000 from a year ago. New jobs have grown faster than new people, so the jobless rate has dropped from 4.6 percent in June 2006 to 4.3 percent last month.

A year ago, there were 800 more people seeking work than the 15,900 who were looking last month.

While the job picture in the county has been mostly positive during the past year, the financial arena has lost 400 jobs during the last 12 months, Thompson said.

“This is primarily due to the meltdown in the sub-prime mortgage area, which continues to ripple throughout the housing market,” she added.

What has happened, Thompson said, is that some people have been forced to sell their homes because their mortgage rates are increasing and they can’t afford the monthly payments.

“So far, this has not hit Snohomish County as hard as some areas in the country,” she said.