What do you get when you pair a slow job market with a growing population? You get August unemployment rates of 8.2 percent in Clark County and 9.2 percent in Cowlitz County.
Clark County gained 1,000 jobs in the last year, but it wasn’t enough to keep up with an influx of 5,000 workers from the area’s 10,000 new residents. The county’s August unemployment rate was 1 percent higher than July’s and 2 percent higher than August 2007’s.
Meanwhile, Cowlitz County’s market took a hit as it gained about 600 workers and lost 900 jobs, according to a labor market report by Scott Bailey, Southwest Washington’s regional economist for the Washington State Employment Security Department. Cowlitz County’s rate in August was up 0.7 percent from last year.
August’s local rates were considerably higher than state and national numbers. Washington’s unemployment was at 5.8 percent in August (up 0.4 percent from August 2007) and the national rate was 6.1 percent (up 0.1 percent from August 2007).
The construction sector has seen the most job losses this year, with unemployment claims up 108 percent, Bailey said. He added that losses could be greater than indicated because only one-third of the unemployed file claims.
The clerical sector also had significant job losses with unemployment claims up 56 percent this year.
“Last June and July (clerical unemployment claims) did not go up measurably, so it’s not a seasonal thing,” Bailey said. “It jumped by 70 claims this year in June.”
Local financial institutions are cutting jobs, but it appears that is caused more by troubled loans to homebuilders than by cutbacks in mortgage lending, Bailey said.
Bucking the financial industry trend is Woodside, Calif.-based Fisher Investments, which added more than 100 jobs this year in Clark County and might add another 1,000 if its headquarters is moved here.
“It’s important to remember that even with high unemployment and low job growth, there is always some hiring going on,” Bailey said in his report.
Charity Thompson can be reached at cthompson@vbjusa.com.
