Preliminary number shows higher jobless rate in Adams County in July

OTHELLO — Fewer jobs at publicly-owned medical facilities and public schools helped push Adams County unemployment to 9.2 percent in July.

The July rate, a preliminary number, was substantially higher than June’s revised rate of 7.3 percent unemployment.

Don Meseck, regional labor economist for the Washington Department of Employment Security, said the way unemployment is calculated may overstate the actual impact.

“These are preliminary estimates,” he said, and “are almost certain to be revised when more information becomes available.”

But Meseck said he thinks the overall trend is clear. Most of the jobs lost in Adams County in July were in the local government sector.

The local government sector includes public schools and public hospital districts, along with publicly funded medical clinics. The COVID-19 outbreak caused hospitals to cut back on elective procedures and services, he said, including surgery, physical therapy, occupational therapy and ambulatory care. That led to layoffs among hospital and clinic staff.

Layoffs also affected schools, seen when comparing July 2019 and July 2020. Meseck said the layoffs affected non-teaching staff, such as bus drivers and food service workers.

Adams County’s leisure and hospitality sector has experienced substantial job losses since April, due to severe restrictions placed on travel and movement by state officials in late March, and only partially lifted since. In Adams County, the leisure and hospitality sector shrank by 6.3 percent from June to July 2020. That is, however, less than job losses in that sector statewide, Meseck said.

There was a bright spot in the county’s employment picture. The transportation and warehousing sector has been growing during the coronavirus pandemic. That bucks the statewide trend, where employment in transportation and warehousing has been dropping since April.

Agriculture continues to be the most important economic factor in Adams County. Data on agricultural employment covers a 10-year period, and the latest report, released in June, covers 2009 through 2019. Agriculture increased its share of the local job market in those 10 years, accounting for 34 percent of the total number of jobs covered by the Employment Security Department in 2019. That’s up from 19.9 percent of total covered jobs in 2009.