Whatcom’s job market improved, but these storm clouds are on the horizon
When it comes to Whatcom County’s job market, there’s good and bad news mixed into the outlook at this stage of COVID-19 pandemic.
First, the good news: Whatcom County had a fairly decent bounce back in terms of job growth after entering Phase 2 of Washington’s Safe Start plan in early June. According to data from the state’s Employment Security Department, the unemployment rate dropped from 15.6% in May to 10.5% in June. The unemployment rate peak this spring was 17.7% in April; before the pandemic the rate was in the 5% range.
With stores, salons and other businesses reopening in early June as well as restaurants offering limited dine-in services, retail and restaurant industries led the way in month-to-month job growth. Between May and June nearly 3,000 private, non-farm jobs were added, according to the data.
Now for the not-so-good news: Much of that employment data comes from the week of June 7-13, right after the Phase 2 reopening started but before the recent rise in new COVID-19 cases in Whatcom County. Initial claims for unemployment benefits have been on the rise locally the past few weeks, an indication that job growth may be slowing down, said Anneliese Vance-Sherman, a regional labor economist for the state.
“I do expect to see slowing of employment growth moving forward based on the most recent uptick (of COVID-19 Cases),” Vance-Sherman said in an email.
Where Whatcom County goes from here has Vance-Sherman concerned. A healthy Whatcom County labor market is predicated on getting the virus under control.
“While it is industrially diverse, Whatcom County depends to a great extent on activities that traditionally involve a great deal of face-to-face contact, particularly with people that travel in from elsewhere, such as students at Western Washington University and retail and hotel customers from British Columbia,” Vance-Sherman said in an email.
The pandemic has changed the job market throughout the state. King County, which typically had one of the lowest unemployment rates in recent years, was at 9.2% in June. The areas with the lowest unemployment rate now are in southeastern Washington; Whitman County had the lowest rate last month at 6.1%
What has worked?
While reopening businesses at the start of Phase 2 was a big factor in the June job growth, Vance-Sherman said adapting to changes has also helped. In particular, businesses have figured out the regulatory environment and have adjusted.
“Businesses faced sudden regulatory changes, as well as changes in consumer behavior. As the pandemic has aged, some changes to the environment have come into clearer focus, leading to clarity around regulation and what businesses need to do to be in compliance,” Vance-Sherman said.
In terms of job growth, Whatcom retail added 1,600 jobs between May and June, while the tourism industry added 1,000 and construction added 900. Whatcom lost an estimated 500 state government jobs between May and June, but that is fairly typical this time of year with the end of the school year.
