Cowlitz County sees higher rate of job growth than state

The newest report on Southwest Washington’s labor market shows a continuing local economic rebound, with more jobs and housing being added in Cowlitz County.

The state report shows the county gained 400 jobs in November and an addition of 1,800 jobs since early 2020. The county also had more permits issued to build housing than almost any year on record, according to the state.

Scott Bailey, southwest regional economist with the Washington Employment Security Department, said the 4.4% local employment growth since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic is more than double the rate of Washington’s employment increase and more than triple Portland’s rate.

“Manufacturing has been doing pretty well and that’s a big piece of the county economy. Leisure and hospitality have been recovering well, so the overall industries have done better than the average,” Bailey said.

Clark County had the highest job gain post-pandemic of any labor market in the state, with an 8.4% increase in jobs.

Other short-term indicators also show a strong economic end to the year.

The state reports permits for 244 single-family homes and 270 multi-family units were issued in Cowlitz County from January through September. That total is “more than any full year’s worth of activity on record, except for 2006, the height of the housing bubble…,” the report states.

After months of spiking gas prices, the current gas prices around Longview are also back down to less than $4 per gallon, according to gas price averages from AAA.

The Cowlitz County unemployment rate, however, has ticked up slightly over the last year, rising from 5% in November last year to 5.9% this November. The rate is higher than the state unemployment rate at 4% and national rate at 3.7%.

Official state economic forecasts across the Pacific Northwest expect a mild recession in 2023. Bailey said that one of the mediating factors for the recession’s local impacts is the strength of the local job market.

“If businesses feel the impact of a slowdown, they still won’t be laying off workers or will do minimal layoffs because almost everybody is still looking for more good people to hire,” Bailey said.