Washington adds 10,800 jobs in July; Grant and Adams counties show mixed trends

OLYMPIA – Washington added about 10,800 jobs in July and the monthly unemployment rate held firm at 4.5%, about the same as in June, according to data released by the Washington Employment Security Department late last week.  

“After a slow start to 2025, job growth in June and July brought the Washington employment landscape back to the overall story of continuing - but slowing – growth,” said Anneliese Vance-Sherman, chief labor economist at the Employment Security Department.  

A bit more than 64,000 Washingtonians received unemployment benefits in July, an increase of more than 1,800 compared to the previous month. Increases in paid claims in educational services, health care and social assistance and information sectors contributed to those numbers statewide.  

Mike McBride, a labor economist with the Employment Security Department who tracks data for the North Central and Northeastern portions of Washington, said Grant and Adams counties are each unique situations, though somewhat reflective of state trends.  

“The statewide unemployment rate was released last week was at 4.5%,” McBride said. “And so that’s in historical terms, that’s a pretty low unemployment rate. If you look back, like over the past decade and such, ratings (have) been trending lower.”  

Adams Co. 

In Adams County, the labor force has reduced by about 100, meaning people actively working or searching for work, McBride said. In a sparsely populated county, that has a statistically noticeable impact.  

According to data on Adams County for the month of June 2025, the adjusted unemployment rate was 3.4% in Adams County, down 0.2% compared to June 2024. The labor force, residents 16 and older who are working or looking for work, declined by 335 year-over-year, according to WESD data. That is followed by an estimated decline by a few hundred workers from June to July, McBride said. The total nonfarm workforce is estimated at about 7,000 workers. 

“We’ve been seeing that across a number of counties all across the state, and that’s really indicative of retirement continuing to run rather strong,” McBride said. “Labor force participation rate is coming down, but the unemployment rate in Adams will be slightly above average, which is normal.” 

Adams County experienced growth in multiple sectors, including services, health care and social assistance year over year. The government sector gained 120 jobs with federal government employment remaining flat but local government growing by 30 jobs from May to June 2025, according to WESD data.  

Grant Co.  

Despite a few recent layoffs, data from WESD indicates that Grant County is doing a bit better than the state unemployment rate as of June. Data from that month indicates the rate at 4.4% of the county’s roughly 46,000 workers. Unemployment is up by 0.2% year over year as compared to June 2024. The number of Grant County residents in the workforce decreased by 2,643 from the prior year to 46,291 workers, employed or not. That roughly matches changes in the total number of employed workers at 44,237 in June, a decline of 2,639 employed residents as compared to the prior year.  

While the overall percentage may look better than the state average, Grant County has challenges and experienced overall job losses in multiple sectors year over year including manufacturing – 270 jobs – and construction – 240 jobs. Government employment also decreased by about 200 jobs. The retail industry also lost about 50 jobs. June data isn’t necessarily indicative of overall trends for July though, with about 480 jobs added month over month from May. 

“Actually, Grant is showing a differential in the other way of goods producing, showing some year-over-year gains, specifically in construction, which makes sense,” he said. “There’s a lot of new builds going on there.”  

Grant County’s labor force is declining due to retirements and other reasons, similarly to Adams County, McBride said. 

Small gains were seen in professional services, health care and leisure sectors for Grant County, according to WESD June data.  

    Adams County's unemployment tends to have spikes higher than the national or state averages throughout the year, but that is generally associated with seasonal employment associated with agriculture.
  

    Grant County has similar seasonal spikes to Adams County due to agricultural jobs fluctuating. However, it has opportunities associated with construction, aerotech and other industries its southeastern neighbor does not have as much of.