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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Spokane County unemployment rate falls to 7.6 percent

Spokane County’s unemployment rate fell to 7.6 percent in October, the lowest since December 2008. A year ago, Spokane’s unemployment rate was 8.3 percent. October typically shows a job gain as retailers prepare for the holidays, said State Labor Economist Doug Tweedy. Notably, however, retail wasn’t the largest gainer of new jobs in October, he said. Comparing the October reporter with the year-earlier figures, the strongest sectors are: * Professional, scientific and technical, up 800 jobs. * Construction, up 800 jobs. * Finance and insurance, up 500 jobs. * Health care, up 400 jobs. Tweedy said the scenario has been the same all year. “The gains we see are all in private jobs,” he said, accompanied by steady job losses in local, state and federal government sectors. The county has 500 more private jobs now than it had in September, and 3,200 more than a year ago, according to state job numbers. The decline in government employment from October 2011 compared to October this year is 600 jobs, Tweedy said. The gains in construction are primarily in industrial projects, such as runway work at Fairchild Air Force Base and the new Washington State University medical education building, he noted. “Residential construction is still down” compared to recent years, Tweedy said. He added that health care in Spokane, which has been generally flat, showed strong gains in October, but “the gains in health care are occurring in clinics and labs.” Year over year, Spokane’s hospitals are showing job losses, Tweedy said. In the government sector — which includes state education — the job losses include a reduction of 400 administrative jobs. Those are spread among city-county, state and federal agencies, Tweedy said.