County unemployment worsens in April
Clark County's unadjusted unemployment rate increased to 13.4 percent in April, according to the most recent information from regional economist Scott Bailey.
Cowlitz County reached 15.5 percent unadjusted, while statewide, the rate was about 9 percent seasonally adjusted. The Vancouver-Portland metro area as a whole was about 12 percent.
Across the metro area, three sectors added jobs in April: education and health services added 300; leisure and hospitality added 500; and government added 300.
Bailey cautioned that the unemployment rate is a fine statistic on the national level, but gets less precise at the county level.
Former Panasonic space is leased
Turner Engineering Co., aka TEKO has signed a six-year lease for a portion of the former Panasonic complex at the Port of Vancouver. The company will move from Columbia Business Center into a 59,400-square-foot space, but has the right of first refusal to expand into the remaining 83,400 square feet in the 142,800-square-foot building.
The space will be used for office, manufacturing, warehousing, distribution, and assembly of steel conveyor systems and related projects. Income to the port during the initial lease term will be more than $1.5 million plus leasehold excise tax, insurance, common area maintenance fees and rail wheelage fees.
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