The unemployment rate on the North Olympic Peninsula dropped last month while it was on the rise statewide.
Clallam County’s unemployment rate dropped from 10.6 to 10 percent in May, according to data released by the Employment Security Department on Tuesday.
Jefferson County’s unemployment rate dropped from 8.6 percent to 8.5 percent in the same month.
Statewide, the unemployment rate rose from 9 to 9.4 percent in May. That is higher than the nationwide unemployment rate, which sits at 9.1 percent.
The likely reason the Peninsula is bucking the statewide trend is that it is starting to see the impact of increased tourism as summer nears, said Tess Camilon, ESD regional labor economist.
It also shows that the Hood Canal Bridge closure did not keep people out of the area, she said.
“It didn’t, and I’m so proud of that,” Camilon said.
In the retail industry alone, Clallam County saw 40 new jobs, and Jefferson County had 14 new jobs.
Camilon said the loss of about 30 retail jobs from the closing of Gottschalks will be part of June’s unemployment figures, which will be released next month.
She didn’t know how many people recently lost their jobs at Westport Shipyard in Port Angeles.
Topping the retail sector in Clallam County were natural resources and construction jobs, which increased by 60 last month.
Jefferson County had 10 new natural resources and construction jobs and saw the largest increases in government jobs, which employed 20 more people last month when compared with April. Clallam County, on the other hand, lost 70 government jobs in May.
The number of people unemployed and looking for work dropped from 1,542 to 1,527 last month in Clallam County and from 561 to 539 in Jefferson County.
Statewide, more than 327,000 people were unemployed and looking for work in May, with about 215,218 receiving unemployment benefits.
‘Take some time’
The Peninsula is still higher than the jobless rate of May 2008 — 7 percent in Clallam County and 5.6 percent in Jefferson County — and Camilon said it’s too early to say if the area is on the rebound.
“It’s going to take some time,” she said.
“We will see a turn-around, maybe starting in the third quarter . . . We are still keeping a wait-and-see attitude on this.”
The highest unemployment rate this year on the North Olympic Peninsula was in March. Clallam County had a jobless rate of 11.3 percent, and Jefferson County was at 9.5 percent.
The last time the state had a comparable unemployment rate was in April and March of 1984, when it was 9.3 percent, and February of 1984, when it was 9.6 percent.
The industries in the state that saw the largest declines from April to May were construction, which lost 3,100 jobs; information, which was down 1,300 jobs; financial activities, which shed 1,100 jobs; and government, which cut 1,200 jobs.
One sector that saw a significant increase was leisure and hospitality, which added 1,600 jobs. Education and health services also added jobs.
“The recession has been deep and wide, and we’re likely to see ups and downs for a while,” Greg Weeks, director of the department’s Labor Market and Economic Analysis unit, said in a prepared statement.
But Washington does not have the highest unemployment rate in the Pacific Northwest. It is second to Oregon, which announced Monday that it hit a record 12.4 percent in May. Alaska is at 8 percent, followed by 7.8 percent in Idaho.
One promising sign for the state’s economy is that the number of jobs that are lost from month to month is decelerating, said Mary Ayala, ESD chief economist.
For example, 6,400 construction jobs were lost between February and May, compared with 7,200 lost in the six months prior to that.
“This is very encouraging news,” she said.
The state’s unemployment is expected to peak in the second half of 2010 at 10.6 percent, said Arun Raha, the state’s chief economist.
The state’s highest unemployment rate since the mid-1970s was in November 1982, when it hit 12.2 percent.
Eastern Washington is home to both the highest and lowest rate in the state: Pend Oreille County has a 14.7 percent unemployment rate, while Whitman County is at just 5.3 percent. King and Thurston counties each had the lowest unemployment rate on the state’s west side at 8 percent.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
