Published December
2003
Jobless
rate drops
to 7.7 percent
By
Mike Benbow
Herald Business Editor
Snohomish County’s
jobless rate plummeted in October, raising hopes that our dismal economy
could finally be on the rebound.
The unemployment
rate for the county dropped from 8.5 percent in September to 7.7 percent
in October, the state Department of Employment Security reported.
Does that signal
a turnaround? “It is certainly too early to say,” said Donna Thompson,
local labor economist for the state department. “However, the jobless
rate and the nonfarm job total are both in positive territory for the
first time in many months.”
Statewide, the jobless
rate fell from 7.6 percent to 7 percent in October.
“The new state unemployment
data reflects the good news at the national level,” said agency commissioner
Sylvia Mundy, referring to news in recent weeks that the national economy
clearly is recovering in fits and starts. “Although we are still a long
way from a full-scale labor market recovery, there has been a significant
improvement over the month.”
The nation’s seasonally
adjusted unemployment rate declined by one-tenth of a percentage point
to an even 6 percent in October.
In addition to a
falling jobless rate, Snohomish County also posted an increase of 1,700
jobs over September, mostly seasonal jobs related to the new year at local
schools and colleges.
Included in that
total, however, were 300 additional jobs at temporary help agencies in
the county. That’s a very good sign, because companies in the early stages
of a recovery often use temporary workers to meet increases in demand
for their products or services. If demand continues, they usually add
to their own payrolls.
And there was more
good news in the aerospace industry. After many months of losing hundreds
of jobs at the Boeing Co. and other local aerospace firms, the cutbacks
in that sector numbered only 100 in October.
Some 22,600 people
held jobs in aerospace in October, a drop of about 2,000 people, or 8.3
percent, during the past year. Boeing officials have predicted that employment
should be relatively stable next year, so the worst of the industry’s
cutbacks are now behind us.
All told, the work
force totaled 345,300 in the county in October, with 318,700 people working
and 26,200 on unemployment.
Thompson called the
steep drop in Snohomish County’s jobless rate “somewhat surprising” and
cautioned that the agency’s figures are based on sample information that
may not be completely accurate.
“Only time will give
us the answer to whether this is the start of a recovery or whether we
will find a lump of coal in our Christmas stocking,” she said, adding
that the direction of the jobless rate “seems to be right, given the increase
in jobs.”
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