North Olympic Peninsula jobless rates continued to dip to multi-year lows in September as 188 Clallam and Jefferson County residents left the ranks of the unemployed, the state Employment Security Department reported Tuesday.
Clallam County unemployment went from a revised 7.4 percent in August to a preliminary 7 percent in September, Employment Security said.
That would be the lowest unemployment in Clallam County since October 2008, when the jobless rate was 6.5 percent.
Jefferson County’s jobless rate went from a revised 6.4 percent in August to a preliminary 6.2 percent in September.
That’s the lowest unemployment in Jefferson County since November 2008, when the jobless rate was 6.1 percent.
Unemployment rates do not factor those who commute to other counties for work or have quit looking for a job.
In Clallam County, there were 24,129 working citizens and 1,810 looking for a job in September.
Its labor force shrank from 26,501 to 25,939 over the month, officials said.
Clallam County’s unemployment rate has dipped nearly every month this year from a high of 10.3 percent in January.
Jefferson County had 10,277 employed citizens and 677 looking for a job.
Its labor force also decreased — from 11,298 in August to 10,954 in September.
Jefferson County unemployment has gone down nearly every month this year from a high of 9.4 percent in January.
The seasonally adjusted statewide jobless rate was 5.2 percent in September, down from 5.3 percent in August.
The state’s private sector gained 71,900 jobs since September 2014 while the public sector added an estimated 9,800 jobs over the year, Employment Security officials said.
National unemployment remained at 5.1 percent.
Unemployment rates at the county level are not seasonally adjusted because the sample size is too small to accommodate the additional analysis, Employment Security said.
For comparison, the non seasonally adjusted statewide jobless rate was 4.8 percent in September, down from 5.0 percent in August.
