County unemployment rate at 7.3 percent
Grant County's nonfarm employment has been decreasing for the past few months, while the state's nonfarm labor market has been increasing, according to the Employment Security Department data.
MOSES LAKE - Grant County's unemployment rates continue to show year-over-year improvement through a 4.9 percent increase in agricultural employment, according to the latest Employment Security Department report.
In April, the county unemployment rate was at 7.3 percent. The county had an unemployment rate of 8.5 percent last April and 9.6 percent in April 2012.
Unemployment rates for January, February and March this year also showed improvement compared to those same months in 2013 and 2012.
The number of unemployed residents fell from 3,450 last April to 2,890 this April, according to the data.
Regional Labor Economist Don Meseck said agricultural employment has increased this year. Ag jobs in Columbia Basin Area 4, a reporting area that includes Grant and Adams counties, increased by 4.9 percent this April compared to last April.
"Ag has been good," he said. "Total agricultural employment this year has been the bright side of the local economy."
The sector tallied 11,300 jobs last April, but 11,850 jobs this April - an increase of 550 jobs. Meseck said a little over 80 percent of those jobs are in Grant County.
He said while agricultural employment is doing well, jobs in the nonfarm sector have shown year-over-year decreases for the past two months. In April, nonfarm employers tallied 27,240 jobs.
That represents a 0.9 percent and 240 job decrease from the 27,480 jobs last April.
At the state level, nonfarm employment has been showing year-over-year increased for the past 43 months.
"The county labor market is going through a sluggish period right now, the last two months nonfarm employment has contracted," Meseck said. "The labor market shrank by 0.8 percent in March and 0.9 percent in April - it's not a catastrophic decline but it's a trend to watch."
Manufacturing jobs decreased between last April and this April, according to the report. The number of jobs between the two Aprils went from 4,330 to 4,238, respectively.
Meseck said the decrease was primarily in non-durable goods manufacturing, which includes food-processing companies. That sector is always really volatile however, he said, since it depends on agricultural output.
"It depends primarily on the strength of agriculture," he said. "You could get a really good harvest and there will be more processing and the need for labor rises so that could change."
The county's construction industry has either stayed the same or decreased for the past 11 months, according to the report. Statewide however, the industry has been growing year over year for the past 26 months.
There were 1,170 jobs in the county's mining, logging and construction category of nonfarm employment last April, while there were 1,150 jobs this April - a 1.7 percent downturn.
Leisure and hospitality jobs showed an increase between last April and this April, rising from 2,280 jobs to 2,330 respectively. The industry also averaged 2,310 jobs in 2012 and 2,360 in 2013, which is a 2.2 percent increase.