Published December 2003

Jobless rate drops
to 7.7 percent

By Mike Benbow
Herald Business Editor

Snohomish County’s jobless rate plummeted in October, raising hopes that our dismal economy could finally be on the rebound.

The unemployment rate for the county dropped from 8.5 percent in September to 7.7 percent in October, the state Department of Employment Security reported.

Does that signal a turnaround? “It is certainly too early to say,” said Donna Thompson, local labor economist for the state department. “However, the jobless rate and the nonfarm job total are both in positive territory for the first time in many months.”

Statewide, the jobless rate fell from 7.6 percent to 7 percent in October.

“The new state unemployment data reflects the good news at the national level,” said agency commissioner Sylvia Mundy, referring to news in recent weeks that the national economy clearly is recovering in fits and starts. “Although we are still a long way from a full-scale labor market recovery, there has been a significant improvement over the month.”

The nation’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate declined by one-tenth of a percentage point to an even 6 percent in October.

In addition to a falling jobless rate, Snohomish County also posted an increase of 1,700 jobs over September, mostly seasonal jobs related to the new year at local schools and colleges.

Included in that total, however, were 300 additional jobs at temporary help agencies in the county. That’s a very good sign, because companies in the early stages of a recovery often use temporary workers to meet increases in demand for their products or services. If demand continues, they usually add to their own payrolls.

And there was more good news in the aerospace industry. After many months of losing hundreds of jobs at the Boeing Co. and other local aerospace firms, the cutbacks in that sector numbered only 100 in October.

Some 22,600 people held jobs in aerospace in October, a drop of about 2,000 people, or 8.3 percent, during the past year. Boeing officials have predicted that employment should be relatively stable next year, so the worst of the industry’s cutbacks are now behind us.

All told, the work force totaled 345,300 in the county in October, with 318,700 people working and 26,200 on unemployment.

Thompson called the steep drop in Snohomish County’s jobless rate “somewhat surprising” and cautioned that the agency’s figures are based on sample information that may not be completely accurate.

“Only time will give us the answer to whether this is the start of a recovery or whether we will find a lump of coal in our Christmas stocking,” she said, adding that the direction of the jobless rate “seems to be right, given the increase in jobs.”

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