Spokane County jobless rate up slightly

Spokane County’s gradually improving economy took a brief summer vacation, with slightly more people here out of work in August than in July, according to state jobless data released Tuesday.

The county’s seasonally adjusted August unemployment rate rose slightly to 5.5 percent, compared with 5.4 percent in July, said Scott Bailey, a labor economist for the state’s Employment Security Department in Vancouver.

That tiny hike in Spokane unemployment is relatively minor, said Bailey. August job numbers are typically tepid “except when the regional economy is booming.” And it’s not booming right now, Bailey added.

Washington state saw the same mild bump in jobless numbers. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Washington rose to 6.2 percent in August, a two-tenths of a point increase from July.

The nation’s unemployment rate in August improved slightly, dropping to 5.4 percent seasonally adjusted, from 5.5 percent in July. Seasonally adjusted numbers take into account shifts in total jobs due to yearly patterns, such as school hiring or summer tourism.

The good news is that both Spokane and Washington state have made strides in the past year. In August 2003 Spokane County’s unemployment rate was 7.0 percent and the state’s had zoomed to 7.7 percent.

The August increase in unemployment, statewide, translates into a net loss of 6,800 jobs from one month earlier. Seasonal layoffs in government and education accounted for all but 300 of those jobs, however, meaning the overall economic picture is better than it appears, said Roberta Pauer, an economist with the state ESD.

Up through August, Spokane’s job totals have been on a roll. From July 2003 to July 2004, Spokane County had gained a total of 3,900 non-farm jobs, according to federal labor statistics.

The difference between August ‘03 and August this year is less impressive: a net gain of 3,000 jobs.

“The Spokane economy has been stellar. It’s still growing but it’s cooled just a bit,” said Avista Chief Economist Randy Barcus. Barcus said he’s now focused on seeing what happens with the coming holiday season.

“If area merchants expect a good season, they’ll be ordering a lot of stuff. If they don’t expect to have a big year, they’ll not order a lot of stuff and they won’t have a big year,” Barcus said.

For the month of August, Spokane’s numbers show a flat line trend for goods-producing jobs. They stayed even with July’s total of 29,700 jobs.

Service-providing jobs in Spokane grew a total of 200 in August, compared with July of this year, Bailey noted. About 100 jobs increased in the area of general merchandise stores, and another 100 in leisure and hospitality, according to Bailey.