Grant Co. unemployment falls, pandemic job losses recovered

GRANT COUNTY — Unemployment in Grant County has fallen to 5.7%, the lowest level since November 2021, with non-farm industrial employment recovering all the jobs lost since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, according to a report from the Washington State Department of Employment Security.

In a monthly report covering up to May, ESD Regional Labor Economist Donald Meseck said the county’s unemployment rate fell 0.7% from 6.2% in May 2021. Non-farm industrial employment in Grant County rose 1.3% to 31,320 jobs in May 2022 from 30,910 jobs in May 2021, the report said, with the total civilian workforce rising by the same amount to 47,045 over the same period.

The greatest increase in the number of jobs in Grant County came in professional and business services, which rose by 12.7% – 310 jobs – to 2,760 in the period May 2021 to May 2022, while the number of people working in transportation, warehousing and utilities rose by 10.6% – 120 jobs – to 1,250 in the same 12-month period, the report said.

Statewide, in the 12 months leading up to May 2022, non-farm industrial employment rose 5.4% – 181,000 jobs – to 3.52 million, the report said, while statewide the unemployment rate dropped to 3.6% in May 2022 from 5.1% the prior year.