November 17, 2009 in News, Business

Spokane County employment the highest since February

Bert Caldwell The Spokesman-Review

Tags: economy Employment jobless unemployment

Spokane County employers hired more than 3,000 workers in October, restoring total employment numbers to the highest level since February, and taking the unemployment rate to the lowest level since December 2008.

The October rate fell to 7.9 percent, while the statewide rate continued to increase. The Department of Employment Security reported Tuesday a 9.3 percent seasonally adjusted rate for the state, 8.8 percent unadjusted. The Spokane figure is also unadjusted.

The national unemployment rate is 10.2 percent, seasonally adjusted.

There were 222,420 jobholders in Spokane County in October, up from 219,040 in September.

Regional Labor Economist Doug Tweedy said hiring increased almost across the board, with the exception of manufacturing and construction. Retail employment did not increase heading into the holiday season, he said, but flattened out after months of losses.

Despite the October gains, employment in Spokane County remains almost 5,000 below the level of October 2008, when the unemployment rate was 5.3 percent, Tweedy said. Employment peaked in November at 229,380 and bottomed out in June at 217,620.

In neighboring counties, the unemployment rates for October were: Whitman, 4.4 percent; Pend Oreille, 11.3 percent; Stevens, 10.5 percent; and Lincoln, 7.2 percent.

The rate in Kootenai County, reported earlier this month by the Idaho Department of Labor, was 11.1 percent.

15 comments on this story so far. Add yours!

polistra on November 17 at 11:31 a.m.
Good!!!

It would be interesting to have some analysis…. what's happening here that makes conditions better than the rest of the state?

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Orange on November 17 at 11:31 a.m.
These numbers really don't add up. Where is a detailed report of how you came to your conclusions. In one month you hired 3000 positions? Do you count Temp labor as a full time employee?

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westside on November 17 at 12:29 p.m.
“In neighboring counties, the unemployment rates for October were: Whitman, 4.4 percent; Pend Oreille, 11.3 percent; Stevens, 10.5 percent; and Lincoln, 7.2 percent.”
Whitman county unemployment??? farm country….??? So retail did not increase(minimum wage jobs) and 3000 new jobs in what sectors??? Very misleading facts…

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madscientist on November 17 at 1:06 p.m.
that is what this newspaper does… mislead,miss, for fail to report, several facts. Further research is required before posting this kind of article. Where were the jobs? sounds like a made up number.

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empyrius on November 17 at 1:22 p.m.
“Spokane County employers hired more than 3,000 workers in October”, yet, “hiring increased almost across the board, with the exception of manufacturing and construction. Retail employment did not increase” . . .

Ummmm, so who got all these “new” jobs?

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Rifleman__Dodd on November 17 at 1:33 p.m.
WalMart. Empyrius. WalMart

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Andrew Zahler on November 17 at 1:48 p.m.
@madscientist, @Orange:

I've posted the reports from the Washington State Employment Security Division on which this story is based: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009…

In the “Washington state employment report October 2009” (PDF), scroll down to page 8 to see the employment numbers for Spokane County, with a 3,000-job difference between September and October.

In the “Employment by Sector” spreadsheet, you can see the jobs broken down by sector for the state and each county. (You'll have to navigate to the tab for Spokane County.) Keep in mind that while both of these documents were prepared by the Employment Security Division, the second report uses a different baseline number for the workforce. But it also shows an increase of 3,000 jobs for all nonfarm sectors.

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edmitch on November 17 at 3:19 p.m.
Thank you for posting the link to the state documents.

From the state's employment spreadsheet, it shows that 3,200 non-farms are estimated to have been created in the Spokane MSA.

A net 100 of those were in the private sector and the remaining 3,100 were created by government, perhaps by “stimulus” debts taken on. We presume they have been estimated more accurately than has been done by the Federal government's wishful thinking estimates on stimulus results.

Stated another way, 97% of all new jobs are government jobs. This is a not a sustainable path to economic success in Spokane, however.

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empyrius on November 17 at 4:01 p.m.
I hear that Rifleman!

Indeed edmitch, I was looking through the numbers and virtually the only ones that did not have a minus in front of them are government jobs! Added to that Boeing is shipping their jobs to South Carolina to bust up the union: things are about to get much worse here in Washington State! It seems the only safe unions are for government employees: har har har har, imagine that!

The American economy remarkably resembles Italy circa 1938; what is that called??? O, yeah, fascism.

Well, maybe if we start another war we will create more jobs; just don't attack Russia b/c the Eastern front gets you every time!

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TALKJOC on November 17 at 4:10 p.m.
So, where can I sign up for one of those Government jobs?

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Rifleman__Dodd on November 17 at 6:08 p.m.
TALKJOC are you beholden to any Politician or Bureaucrat? If not I think your wasting your time.

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Sugar Shane on November 17 at 6:10 p.m.
Theres new positions opening up every day down at your local recruiters office. Opportunity for advancement and travel. Good medical and dental plan that includes all meds and vision.

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zalanz on November 17 at 7:56 p.m.
Bologna!

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empyrius on November 17 at 8:13 p.m.
Nay! Nay! Heed not SS's advice! Sell out not your eternal soul for Exxon's profits guarding those Iraqi oil fields! Scripture calls not America the Babylonian Prostitute to simply effect rhetorical metaphor; even if the beast offers you exotic locales, excellent medical and dental benefits, a lifelong job …, er, waitaminute, . . : see! See! Evil disguising as individual economic salvation and evenmore saying you will be purveying “democracy” and liberation. Nay, fall not for the abomination that causes not but desolation! No domestic jobs but the promise of perptual wars in strange lands violently remaking the world in “our image” …: be not hoodwinked most epically Chrisitan soldier.

Just say no to war and let the rich man fight his own battles! Verily these wars would end tomorrow if us common folk stood thusly united! O woe, now the next American generation,s consumer goods will all be labeled “made in Afghanistan” . . .

The horror, the horror …

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Terry Corbell on November 17 at 11:28 p.m.
It would be better if the private sector dominated the hiring with family wage jobs instead of the public sector. Yet, Spokane County is faring better than the Puget Sound. Congratulations.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of misery as a result of the economic climate.

However, there are states enjoying a healthier economy and unemployment rates, such as Utah and Oklahoma (6.2 percent 6.7 percent, respectively).

But Washington has great talent and resources. What’s wrong and what can be done?

Here are the solutions: http://bit.ly/18XMiB.

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