Grant Co. non-farm employment picture improving
A help wanted sign is posted in the window at Inca Mexican Restaurant at 404 E. 3rd Ave. in downtown Moses Lake. Many businesses are hiring and unemployment in non-farm positions is markedly down from this same time last year, according to a Washington State Employment Security Department report.
CHARLES H. FEATHERSTONE/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
GRANT COUNTY — Non-farm employment in Grant County in February rose nearly 8% when compared with 2021 as manufacturing employment expanded and the hospitality sector continued to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report from the Washington State Employment Security Department.
The Monthly Employment Report, compiled by ESD Regional Labor Economist Don Meseck and released in early April, said non-farm employment in Grant County rose 7.7% to 31,720 in February 2022 versus 29,440 in February 2021.
“We actually regained all the jobs we lost on the non-farm side since the COVID pandemic,” Meseck said, noting that Grant County non-farm employment in February 2020 stood at 30,310.
While hospitality employment — defined as hotels, restaurants and bars, and amusement and recreation — nearly doubled during the year-over-year period to 3,160 jobs in February from 2,140 in 2021, job growth in the industrial sector posted a 10% increase as well during the same period from 5,740 in February 2021 to 6,130 this year.
“We have a lot of industry that’s growing,” said Richard Hannover, the director of business development for the Port of Moses Lake. “Across the board, Moses Lake is doing pretty well.
Hannover also said Grant County’s diversity of businesses shields the region from the worst effects of economic downturns. As an example, he cited Moses Lake Industries, which makes specialized chemicals used to create silicon chips, noting that MLI has grown from 150 employees to 400 and is looking to hire another 50.
Countywide, retail employment also grew 7.7% from February 2021 to February 2022, the report said.
Grant County’s unemployment rate has continued to decline to 8.1% in February 2022, in-line with February 2020 unemployment rates prior to the lockdowns and closures imposed in response to the outbreak of COVID-19.
While about 1% of all workers nationwide are employed on farms or in agriculture, Meseck said about 2-3% of Washington residents work on farms but 23.5% of Grant County workers do some kind of farm work.
Meseck also said farm and non-farm employment are separated because, years ago, when the data was first collected, it focused entirely on jobs included in the unemployment compensation systems, which at the time did did not cover most farm-related employment. Right now, the unemployment system covers about 85% of all employment, with some family employees at farms and sole proprietorship businesses excluded because they aren’t covered.
“It picks up most jobs,” Meseck said.
Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com