PORT ANGELES — Unemployment held flat at 9.7 percent in Clallam County and dipped from 9.3 percent to 8.9 percent in Jefferson County last month, the state Employment Security Department announced Tuesday.
Clallam County added 230 private-sector jobs but lost 110 in government for a net gain of 120 jobs in July.
The reason the unemployment rate didn’t budge from 9.7 percent in Clallam County is because more and more people are commuting outside the area for work, said Elizabeth Court, regional economist for Employment Security.
In the past five years, “about 10 percent more of the population in Clallam County has started to commute,” Court said.
“That does happen at times in periods of recovery.”
Clallam County’s largest gains were seen in the goods-producing industries, with 80 new jobs in natural resources and mining jobs and 60 new jobs in manufacturing.
Public-sector job losses on the North Olympic Peninsula and around the state are evenly spread among the federal, state and local levels, Court said.
The Clallam County jobless rate has hovered around 10 percent for more than a year, reaching a low of 9.2 percent last October and a high of 11.1 percent in March.
The county’s unemployment rate was exactly the same in July 2011 as it is now.
Jefferson County
Meanwhile, Jefferson County shed 20 jobs last month despite modest gains in trade, transportation, utilities and manufacturing.
Those gains were offset by a loss of 80 government jobs.
The Jefferson County unemployment rate reached a one-year high of 10.6 percent in February and has hovered around 9 percent since April.
The county’s jobless rate was 9.2 percent in July 2011.
First-time unemployment claims, a key indicator in a county’s economy, have fallen sharply in both counties since January, Court said.
Initial claims in Clallam County went from a high of 848 in January to 400 in July, which Jefferson County has dropped from 236 to 151.
San Juan County had the state’s lowest unemployment rate at 4.7 percent in July.
Ferry County had the highest at 12.7 percent.
Washington’s preliminary seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose from 8.3 percent in June to 8.5 percent in July.
The national jobless rate went from 8.2 percent in June to 8.3 percent last month.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
