Grant, Adams counties add jobs

Adams County at lowest unemployment rate since 1990

COLUMBIA BASIN - Grant County employers added 900 jobs over a 12-month period and a Wenatchee-based labor economist says estimates show a healthy, but slowing, economy.

Regional labor economist Tihamiyou Baba-Moussa said total private employment in Grant County increased by 710 paychecks from March 2007 to March 2008, an increase of 3.8 percent. A job growth of 710 in 2008 follows job gains of 940 in 2007 and 1,100 in 2006.

Unemployment rates are calculated by determining the number of people unemployed and dividing it by the number of people in the labor force, which consists of people employed and people who are unemployed and actively seeking a job.

"If you don't have a job but are not actively seeking unemployment, you are not counted as unemployed," he explained. "The ratio of people who do not have employment but are actively looking for a job, divided by the sum of employed and people who are unemployed and also actively looking for a job."

Discouraged workers are those people who have looked for a job for some deal of time but haven't found any.

"Because they have not found any jobs, they get discouraged and leave the labor force," Baba-Moussa said. "Which means anytime we have a recession or a downturn in the economy, people have looked for jobs for such a long time, they don't have any more hope of finding a job in the near future. They say, 'Well, I'm not going to waste my time looking for a job, I'm just going to give up.'"

If discouraged workers give up the search, the ratio of unemployed people to total labor force drops, not because of creation of employment or a lack of creation, Baba-Moussa said.

"If you compare unemployment rates and the number of jobs created, that's employment growth, you are comparing apples and oranges," he noted. "It's not something that can be compared easily."

In Grant County, trade, transportation and utilities led growth with a 5.2 percentage point increase in 2008, 4.2 percent in 2007 and 1.8 percent in 2006. The job category added 270 new jobs in 2008, 210 in 2007 and 90 in 2006.

Statewide, the pace of growth was slower, Baba-Moussa said, with 2.3 percent and 0.8 percent increases in 2007 and 2008, respectively. Over the month, payrolls rose from 5,330 to 5,470, a 2.6 percent increase.

Employers in Grant County's government sector added 190 jobs in March 2008, up from a previous employment level of 7,420 in 2007. The 190-job increase represents a growth rate of 2.6 percent, a better performance in the county than the statewide 1.7 percent gain in the government sector. Over the month, 60 new jobs were added.

Companies in information and financial activities, including finance and insurance, real estate and rental leasing and telecommunications lost 20 jobs, the first job loss since 2006. Over the month, no change was posted.

The unemployment rate in Grant County rose from 6.4 percent in March 2007 to 7.4 percent in March 2008. Over the month, the jobless rate went down about one percentage point from 8.5 percent in February. The 7.4 percent jobless rate in Grant County was the second lowest March unemployment rate since 1990.

There were 2,950 residents out of work in March out of a labor force of 39,730, which includes both employed and unemployed, and which is up 510 from the previous 2,440 unemployed residents over the year.

The "not seasonally adjusted" rate of unemployment in the state went up from 4.7 percent to 5.3 percent in 2008, an increase of six-tenths of a percentage point, Baba-Moussa said.

"There are two parts to this," he said. "'Healthy' means at least we are growing. And we have two kinds of growth. Either the growth is growing at an increasing rate, or it is growing at a decreasing growth, but at least we do have a growth."

Adams County added 150 jobs from March 2007 to March 2008, an increase of 2.9 percent.

"I think we are in a good trend in Adams County, even though the changes are not too big as we all want it to be, but we are making good tracks," Baba-Moussa said.

Manufacturing had the highest gain, with 120 new jobs created. Manufacturing was followed by the trade, transportation and utilities category, which added 50 jobs, information and financial services, which added 10 jobs. Natural resources, mining and construction lost 30 jobs, and payrolls shrank by 50 in the government sector.

Between February and March 2008, 40 jobs were lost, Baba-Moussa said. Trade, transportation and utilities lost 40 jobs, manufacturing lost 10 jobs and government lost 10 jobs in Adams County.

Baba-Moussa said not to expect the total he gets to add up, which is why the math appears off. Calculations are made independently and prone to confidentiality, so data of an industry may be suppressed, he said.

The unemployment rate in Adams County posted no change between March 2007 and March 2008 at 6.3 percent.

From February to March 2008, the jobless rate declined by 2.8 percent from 9.1 percent. There were 480 residents out of work in March 2008, out of a labor force of 7,650 and up 10 from the previous over-the-year 470 unemployed residents. The 6.3 percent jobless rate in Adams County is the lowest unemployment rate since 1990.

"It's not easy to put a straightforward meaning onto the unemployment rate," Baba-Moussa said. "Of course we all want to have a lower unemployment rate. At least we have added some jobs. Which is much better than a decline."