Snohomish County unemployment jumped to 10.1 percent in September, the highest jobless rate the county has seen this year.
September’s total came in well above August’s 9.4 percent rate and also edged June’s adjusted rate of 10 percent, formerly the high point for unemployment in the county.
The increase comes amid talk of an end to the recession that’s plagued the economy this year, but economists say the jobless jump wasn’t unexpected.
“The thing to remember is that unemployment is a lagging indicator,” said Desiree Phair, a regional economist for the state Employment Security Department. “We have started to see overall signs of progress for the economy as a whole, but it takes a little while for unemployment to catch up.”
Retailers need to see steady improvement in sales before they take on new employees, she said. And a spike in unemployment is typical for fall, when seasonal summer jobs end but holiday hiring hasn’t started.
“In some cases, jobs that were there in the summer are not there in the fall,” Phair said.
The county’s rate has not been seasonally adjusted.
The state’s jobless rate increased in September to 9.3 percent from 9 percent in August. The state lost an estimated 16,000 nonagricultural jobs in September, seasonally adjusted, after an estimated loss of nearly 12,000 jobs in August.
Year over year, Washington had 131,200 fewer jobs last month than in September 2008, a 4.4 percent decrease. Nationally, employment declined by 4.2 percent over the past year.
Snohomish County’s jobless rate remained steeper than its neighbors. King County unemployment was pegged at 8.8 percent, Skagit County registered at 9.2 percent, and Island County’s rate was 8.2 percent.
Snohomish County had a jobless rate of 5.2 in September 2008.
The county unemployment rate likely won’t rebound quickly. The employment services sector tends to be an early indicator of when an uptick is coming, but that category was flat in recent months.
Aerospace manufacturing work in the county decreased by about 1,200 jobs or 1.2 percent between August and September. Manufacturing jobs in general were down 5 percent year over year in September.
Jobs rebounded slightly in the county’s service sector, up by about 500 jobs from August — less than 1 percent. The industry remained down by more than 5 percent compared to last year.
Read Amy Rolph’s small-business blog at www.heraldnet.com/TheStorefront. Contact her at 425-339-3029 or arolph@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
