Spokane County’s unemployment rate drops to 6.7% in January

Spokane County’s unemployment rate dropped slightly to 6.7% in January, an indication the area’s labor market is rebounding from job losses related to the coronavirus pandemic.

The county shed 2,300 nonfarm jobs and 2,200 private sector jobs from December to January, according to the Washington state Employment Security Department.

However, the leisure and hospitality sector added 800 jobs, followed by the education and health services sector, which added 500 jobs. The information sector held steady with 3,100 jobs.

The greatest month-over-month decline occurred in the trade, transportation and utilities sector, which shed 1,800 jobs in January. Retail trade lost 1,100 jobs, followed by the mining, logging and construction sector with a decline of 800 jobs.

The county’s unemployment rate was 6.8% in December and 5.9% in January 2020.

There were 16,559 unemployed people in Spokane County in January, slightly fewer than 16,870 people out of work in December.

State adds 4,400; jobless rate drops to 6%

The state added 4,400 jobs, with its preliminary seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 6% in January from 7.1% in December, according to the ESD.

“The new year is off to a better start as far as the labor market is concerned,” Paul Turek, an economist for the department, said in a statement. “January’s employment gain only partially reverses last month’s decline, but as more vaccinations are given and business conditions improve, the labor market recovery should strengthen.”

The number of unemployed people in the state dropped from 272,500 in December to 228,600 in January.

Private sector employment in the state decreased by 2,800 jobs, while government employment increased by 1,600 jobs, according to the ESD.

The leisure and hospitality sector added 4,800 jobs in the state in January, followed by 4,700 jobs in education and health services and 1,600 government positions.

Professional and business services experienced the greatest number of job losses in January at 3,400, followed by 2,400 in the transportation, warehousing and utilities sector.

The state lost an estimated 234,000 jobs from January 2020 to January 2021, according to ESD’s nonseasonally adjusted data. The three industry sectors posting the greatest year-over-year job losses were leisure and hospitality with 112,700 jobs, followed by government and manufacturing, down by 48,400 and 32,100 jobs, respectively.

Idaho see decrease

Idaho’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 3.4% in January, a slight decline from 3.8% in December, according to the Idaho Department of Labor.

Idaho added 4,500 nonfarm jobs in January, bringing the state’s total to 780,900, which exceeds a prepandemic peak of 773,400 jobs, the department reported Tuesday.

The construction, natural resources, government and financial activities sectors saw the greatest amount of job gains in January compared with December.

The number of unemployed people in Idaho dropped to 31,043 in January, a 10.3% decrease compared with a month prior.