Published February 2001

County jobless rate falls
as retail, Boeing add jobs

By Mike Benbow
Herald Economy Editor

The jobless rate for both Snohomish County and the state as a whole fell slightly in December, a month when joblessness was expected to increase, officials said.

“As the year 2000 came to a close, the pullback in employment was less than in the past two years, pointing to the underlying strength of our economy,” Employment Security Commissioner Carver Gayton said.

The adjusted unemployment rate for November was 3.6 percent in Snohomish County and 5 percent statewide. Both numbers slipped a tenth of a percentage point in December, to 3.5 percent and 4.9 percent, respectively, officials said.

“Since 1978, the November-to-December increase in the jobless rate has averaged three-tenths of a percentage point,” Gayton said.

Labor economist Donna Thompson, who keeps track of the county economy for Employment Security, said holiday shopping kept the December job numbers up locally, adding some 900 jobs.

Some 200 jobs were added in December in aircraft and parts, reflecting a slight rebound by the Boeing Co., which had laid off workers. Thompson noted that Boeing announced delivery of 489 planes in 2000 and the expectation of delivering 530 both this year and next.

Construction jobs were down by about 100 in December, but that was expected because of the weather.

For the year 2000, the county gained 2,200 jobs, Thompson said.

The work force is estimated at 350,300, meaning 12,300 were jobless in December.

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