Published July 2003

Seasonal work makes
slight dent in jobless rate

By Mike Benbow
Herald Business Editor

The jobless rate in Snohomish County dropped slightly last month, thanks to a little help from the USS Lincoln and a rise in seasonal work including construction.

Unemployment dipped from 7.3 percent in April to 7.2 percent in May, the state Department of Employment Security reported.

Donna Thompson, the department’s local labor economist, said Snohomish County added 700 jobs in May.

“Most sectors showed increases or held their own, except for manufacturing, which is still being hit by monthly Boeing layoffs,” Thompson said.

The county lost about 500 aerospace jobs in May, Thompson noted.

Increases in construction, which added 400 jobs; building material and garden stores, which took on 300 people; the leisure and hotel industry, which hired 500; and temporary services, which added 200, all contributed to the net increase in local jobs.

Statewide, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 7.3 percent, the same as in April. That compares with a national rate of 6.1 percent. The highest rate in the nation is Oregon’s 8.1 percent.

Sylvia Mundy, the state employment security commissioner, said that Washington still has a long way to go for recovery.

“This pause in the unemployment rate’s climb may be a signal that the weakness of the first quarter was due in large part to geopolitical concerns,” she said, referring to the war in Iraq.

“Even if the economy is now poised for a gradual recovery, the labor market is likely to react slowly, and the unemployment rate probably won’t improve appreciably until late this year.”

The state expects the jobless rate to remain at around 7 percent this year, drop to 6.5 percent or 6.6 percent next year, and fall again to around 6.1 percent in 2005.

The new figures mean that of an estimated work force of 341,100 people in May, 316,500 were working and 24,600 were on the jobless rolls.

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