Jobless numbers fall in Spokane and state

Both Washington state and Spokane County saw slight declines in unemployment in May, the state Employment Security Department said Tuesday. Washington’s jobless rate fell to 6.1 percent from 6.3 percent the previous month, while Spokane County’s fell to 5.5 percent from 5.6 percent.

Meanwhile, in nine other Eastern Washington counties, excluding Spokane, the jobless rate rose slightly in May to 5.2 percent, from 5.0 percent in April, according to the department’s monthly report. That slight increase reflects weaker-than-expected seasonal hiring, noted William Dillingham, the department’s labor market economist for Eastern Washington.

By comparison, the national jobless rate in May was 5.6 percent, unchanged from the previous month.

All numbers are seasonally adjusted to take into account fluctuations due to spring hiring practices.

During May, Spokane County saw a net gain of 200 nonfarm wage and salary jobs, Dillingham said. That puts Spokane County’s total number of jobs at 203,100.

The bulk of those gains came from construction, food services and drinking establishments, and manufacturing, according to the data released Tuesday.

But data collected through a different survey using households — as opposed to questionnaires sent to employers — showed a net decline in Spokane’s May job numbers. In the household survey, Spokane lost about 850 seasonally adjusted positions, Dillingham pointed out. The household survey includes self-employed and agricultural workers.

Of the two surveys, the nonfarm-establishment survey is considered more accurate, Dillingham said.

Using the nonfarm-establishment numbers, Spokane County over the past 12 months has gained 3,800 jobs. In the same period, Spokane County’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 5.5 percent from 7.1 percent, according to Dillingham.

Statewide in May, Washington gained about 26,500 total nonfarm jobs, the state Employment Security Department said. Most of those came through seasonal hiring, especially in construction, department Commissioner Sylvia P. Mundy said in a press release. Even so, Washington saw a net gain of 5,100 construction jobs and 1,900 manufacturing jobs from April to May, Mundy said.

The nine Eastern Washington counties, based on the household survey, enjoyed a net gain of 3,000 jobs from May 2003, for a total of 89,600 jobs. Over the month, those nine counties lost about 260 jobs. Most of those job losses occurred in Whitman County and were the result of seasonal layoffs, Dillingham said.

Garfield and Whitman counties had the state’s lowest rates of unemployment, at 1.7 and 1.8 percent, respectively.