State jobless rate hits 6.3 percent

The unemployment rate in Washington rose in October, while a revised set of numbers for September led a Pierce County labor analyst to call the county jobs numbers worrisome.

In the state, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 6.3 percent from September’s total of 5.8 percent, according to Mary Ayala, Employment Security Department chief economist.

In Pierce County, the unemployment rate hit 6.4 percent in October, up from 5.8 percent in September, according to department labor economist Paul Turek. (Pierce County’s numbers are not adjusted for seasonal changes in employment, such as holiday hiring.)

“This is a bit of a confusing month, because we had a strike,” Ayala said, referring to the recent strike by Boeing Machinists. She spoke during a Tuesday morning conference call. “It didn’t affect the unemployment rate.”

Figures used to compute the unemployment rate are taken from a survey separate from the one used to generate the number of jobs, she said.

“Without the strike, jobs in Washington increased by about 800,” a department news release said Tuesday.

The employment sectors seeing the greatest declines in October were manufacturing, down 1,300 jobs (when labor-management disputes are not considered); retail trade, down 1,700; education services, down 1,700 jobs, and construction, down 1,100 from September.

The biggest gains were in government, up 6,000 jobs; and health and social services, up 1,300 jobs., according to department figures.

Approximately 203,820 people were unemployed and seeking work in Washington in October.

The October decline in employment, said Ayala, “shows that the economy is slowing down.”

In Pierce County, said Turek, “what I’m seeing is a fairly significant weakening of our local economy, and I could say regional economy as well. The month says we had a small decline in employment. What that means, relative to last month – the downward trend continues.”

Previous economic growth, he said Tuesday, has “flat-lined out. In September we gained no jobs. That was last month. This month we’re down 2,700 jobs. That’s a big shift.”

The department has recently revised figures for September, he said. Previous calculations showed 283,800 nonagricultural jobs taken in the area. That number has been revised downward to 281,000.

“New information emerges,” Turek said. “We’re seeing a more negative picture than we originally anticipated.”

The latest numbers, he said, indicate that “from an economic standpoint, we’re losing some of the edge we had previously. This month we’ve moved closer to the pack that’s moving along recessional lines.”

Among a few bright spots, Turek said, “we had a bounce-back in professional and business services where we added 700 jobs for the month.” In the retail sector, likewise, the economy gained 200 jobs.

The leisure and hospitality sector lost 2,700 jobs over the month, with eateries and bars losing 500 positions from September to October.

Local government posted a gain of 1,100 jobs.

Overall, Turek said he views the latest numbers as “worrisome. We knew we were not going upward very quickly.”

It has become more difficult, he said, “for us to insulate ourselves from national and international conditions.”

“It’s not looking too good. We’ve gone from a position of having positive employment growth, to leveling off, to losing jobs.”

Turek said it was “too early” to make a solid comparison between the current recession and recessions past.

“The situation we’re in is probably going to be more severe than our 1991 recession. 2001 was a fairly severe recession for us. I think we’re probably going to move in circles that are somewhat similar. I don’t think we’re going to go back into a recession as deep and prolonged as in the 1980s. I don’t think we’re going to get to that point.”

C.R. Roberts: 253-597-8535

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