Published February
2001
County
jobless rate falls
as retail, Boeing add jobs
By
Mike Benbow
Herald Economy Editor
The jobless rate
for both Snohomish County and the state as a whole fell slightly in December,
a month when joblessness was expected to increase, officials said.
“As the year 2000
came to a close, the pullback in employment was less than in the past
two years, pointing to the underlying strength of our economy,” Employment
Security Commissioner Carver Gayton said.
The adjusted unemployment
rate for November was 3.6 percent in Snohomish County and 5 percent statewide.
Both numbers slipped a tenth of a percentage point in December, to 3.5
percent and 4.9 percent, respectively, officials said.
“Since 1978, the
November-to-December increase in the jobless rate has averaged three-tenths
of a percentage point,” Gayton said.
Labor economist Donna
Thompson, who keeps track of the county economy for Employment Security,
said holiday shopping kept the December job numbers up locally, adding
some 900 jobs.
Some 200 jobs were
added in December in aircraft and parts, reflecting a slight rebound by
the Boeing Co., which had laid off workers. Thompson noted that Boeing
announced delivery of 489 planes in 2000 and the expectation of delivering
530 both this year and next.
Construction jobs
were down by about 100 in December, but that was expected because of the
weather.
For the year 2000,
the county gained 2,200 jobs, Thompson said.
The work force is
estimated at 350,300, meaning 12,300 were jobless in December.
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