Published April 2001

Layoffs push jobless rate higher in county, state

By Mike Benbow
Herald Economy Editor

Increased layoffs, especially in the high-tech industry, sent the jobless rate soaring in February for both Snohomish County and the state as a whole.

Unemployment in February rose half a percentage point for Snohomish County and the state, rising to 4.7 percent locally and 6.3 percent statewide.

“The jump in the rate is bigger than usual this year,” said Paul Trause, Acting Employment Security Commissioner. “The rise is a concern both in Washington state and across the nation.”

Trause noted that both the dot-com and the aluminum industries have been laying off large numbers of workers.

But he said “portions of our economy still seem to be running strong” as other industries in the state remain healthy.

“We will be watching the unemployment rate and claims figures closely,” he said.

In Snohomish County, jobs at the Boeing Co., a mainstay of the local economy, remained stable at about 30,500 in February, according to Donna Thompson, labor economist.

But employment in a number of other sectors dropped.

In February, the county lost 200 construction jobs, down 1,900 from a year ago.

Snohomish County also lost 200 jobs in retail, a decline Thompson attributed to the falling stock market, which has caused people to spend less on consumer items.

The county also lost a total of 400 manufacturing jobs in January, another sign of a slowing economy.

For Snohomish County, the losses mean that the total number of workers fell to about 336,200 in February. There were an estimated 16,500 people without work, an increase of 700.

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