Grant County unemployment remains at 27-year lows

YAKIMA — Grant County’s unemployment rate stayed the same between June and July 2017. But a big drop in unemployed residents meant there was a big drop in the unemployment rate between July 2016 and July 2017.

The unemployment rate for July was 4.7 percent, down from 6.1 percent in July 2016. That’s the same as the unemployment rate for June. It’s also the lowest unemployment rate in Grant County since electronic recordkeeping was implemented in 1990, wrote Don Meseck, regional labor economist for the Washington Employment Security Department.

The Grant County economy provided 180 more jobs in July 2017 than July 2016. “The civilian labor force expanded modestly while the number of unemployed residents decreased sharply,” Meseck wrote. “The (unemployment) rate has been declining, year over year, for the past 10 months, October 2016 through July 2017.”

The county’s economy did add jobs when July 2016 and July 2017 are compared. “Total non-farm employment in Grant County posted a marginal 0.6 percent increase between July 2016 (30,140 jobs) and July 2017 (30,320 jobs).”

The county’s civilian labor force expanded by 3.6 percent year-over-year between the Julys. “The main reason the local unemployment rate has declined during each of the past 10 months, October 2016 through July 2017, is the number of employed has contracted substantially. The number of unemployed residents plummeted from 2,917 residents in July 2016 to 2,309 this July, meaning 608 fewer Grant County residents were out of work during this timeframe.” Meseck wrote.

Some sectors of the local economy provided good news, others not-so-good news. Durable good manufacturing jobs declined when comparing July to July, but nondurable goods manufacturing jobs increased in the same time period.

“Between the July of 2016 and 2017, durable goods manufacturing declined by 5 percent, a 100-job downturn, from 2,010 to 1,910 jobs,” Meseck wrote. That follows a statewide trend.

The news was better in non-durable goods manufacturing. “This July, non-durable good manufacturing, primarily food processing, tallied 3,290 jobs countywide, a 170-job and 5.4 percent increase from July 2016.” That sector of the economy has “registered year-over-year growth during 11 of the past 12 months, losing jobs only between the Mays of 2016 and 2017.”

After losing jobs for a while, the professional and business services sector grew rapidly in July. Between July 2016 and July 2017, professional and business services added 210 jobs, “rising from 1,630 jobs in July 2016 to 1,840 this July. Within the professional and business services category, temporary employment services is likely accounting for the lion’s share of this recent employment surge – an encouraging economic indicator.”

Construction jobs increased 1.4 percent between the Julys, and retail trade jobs increased by about 1.1 percent. But wholesale trade jobs dropped by 13.8 percent between July 2016 and July 2017, and transportation, warehousing and utility jobs dropped by 12.1 percent.

Agriculture still plays a crucial role in the county’s economy, accounting for about 23.5 percent of total covered unemployment, “Covered” employment means jobs where employees are covered by Washington Employment Security.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.