Grant County unemployment 5.6 percent in September

OLYMPIA - Statistics released by the Washington Employment Security Department show Grant County's unemployment rate was below the state unemployment rate at the end of September.

Grant County's unemployment rate was 5.6 percent in September, opposed to 6.4 percent in September 2013, according to statistics from regional labor economist Donald Meseck. "The last time a September unemployment was this low in Grant County was six years ago, in September 2008," Meseck wrote in the monthly labor report.

The state unemployment rate increased to 6 percent in October, according to a press release from the Washington Employment Security Department. That's in spite of an estimated increase in jobs in October, but the increase might be a good thing, said state labor economist Paul Turek. The unemployment increase is "directly related to an increase in the labor force," he said. People are reentering the labor force, Turek said.

Grant County's economy fell behind the state economy in producing jobs, and the county actually lost jobs when September 2014 is compared to September 2013, Meseck said. The county lost 30 jobs when compared with September 2013, Meseck said. There had been 23 straight months of year-over-year gains, he said.

The local labor force shrank in the first six month of 2014, when compared with 2013, before expanding in July, August and September, he said.

The county's manufacturing sector has been adding workers for the last year, Meseck said, increasing by 7.7 percent. Manufacturing has grown statewide, but it's growing faster in Grant County. Jobs increased in the construction (they're lumped in with mining and logging) trade in the county between September 2013 and September 2014, and construction jobs have been increasing on a year-over-year basis for the last four months, Meseck said.

Wholesale trade jobs increased between September 2013 and September 2014, Meseck said. Retail trade jobs decreased when measured year-over-year, however. Retail jobs in Grant County have declined, year over year, for the past seven months.

Professional and business service jobs in Grant County declined when compared with September 2013, and so did information and financial service jobs. Leisure and hospitality jobs are primarily hotels and restaurants, and those categories "posted substantial year-over-year losses for the last six months," Meseck wrote.

One likely reason for the loss, he said, was that the Columbia River was closed to recreation activities between Wanapum Dam and Rock Island Dam as a result of a crack at Wanapum Dam.

Statewide, the leisure and hospitality industries are doing better, making the largest employment gains in any category in October. Transportation, manufacturing, retail trade and construction added jobs statewide, and so did the professional and business services sector.

Wholesale trade lost jobs statewide in October, and so did education and health services, government and information sectors.