Business - Business News

POSTED: Tuesday, Sep. 16, 2008

Unemployment rises in Whatcom County; state hits 6 percent

Whatcom County's unemployment rate is climbing, but at a slower rate than the rest of the state.

Locally the unemployment rate, not seasonally adjusted, was 5.6 percent in August, up from 5.5 percent in July, according to the Washington State Employment Security Department. It's the highest rate since February 2005, when it was at 6 percent.

Last month in Whatcom County, 6,090 people were actively looking for work, up 130 compared to July. It's also up significantly over August 2007, when there were 4,270 people actively looking for work, and the unemployment rate was 4 percent.

Across the state the unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted, was 6 percent in August, up from July's 5.6 percent. The U.S. unemployment rate in August, seasonally adjusted, was 6.1 percent.

The state employment numbers presented a little good news to go along with the bad, said Marilyn Watkins, acting executive director for the Economic Opportunity Institute, a nonprofit public policy research center based in Seattle.

While the state's unemployment rate is at the highest level in four years, Washington has had year-over-year job growth of 1.4 percent, adding 41,800 jobs. Between July and August, 1,300 jobs were added to economy.

However, there were 1,600 fewer construction jobs in August compared to the previous month in Washington.

"Washington is doing much better than much of the nation in terms of job growth, but the bad news is that the national and world economy is impacting other industries, leading to higher unemployment as new people enter the work force," such as graduates or people moving to the area, Watkins said.

Washington state is doing significantly better than the last economic downturn seven years ago. During the 2001 recession, the high-tech and aerospace sectors were hit hard, hurting Washington's economy more than other parts of the country. Watkins pointed out the 2001 economic downturn is much different than what the nation is experiencing now, with the housing and financial markets currently taking the biggest hits.

"The result is pockets of Washington that are experiencing growth, while other areas are struggling. High-tech and aerospace are high-paying jobs, so that can stabilize other parts of the economy," she said. "However, we'll have to wait and see how it plays out if the nation gets into a prolonged recession."

Broken into industries, local construction employment matched August 2007, when there were 8,500 people employed locally. Local manufacturing jobs dropped from 9,500 in August 2007 to 9,100 last month, according to the Employment Security Department report.

Skagit County's unemployment rate rose fourth-tenths of a percentage point in one month to 6.3 percent.

Snohomish County's unemployment rate was 5.1 percent, while King County was at 4.4 percent.