Clallam County saw its lowest jobless rate this year in September — and Jefferson County saw a decrease, as well — while the state and national rate increased, according to preliminary data released by the state Economic Security Department on Tuesday.
Both counties also saw a decrease in the number employed.
The ESD estimates that the unemployment rate was 8.6 percent in Clallam County in September, down from August’s revised figure of 9 percent.
Last month’s figure is still higher than the 5.1 percent unemployment rate the county had in September 2008.
Down in Jefferson
Jefferson County also saw a decrease last month. The ESD estimates that its unemployment rate was 7.5 percent in September, down from August’s revised figure of 7.6 percent.
Statewide, on the other hand, the unemployment rate went from 9 percent to 9.3 percent last month, according to the ESD.
Nationwide, the jobless rate rose from 9.6 percent to 10 percent in September.
Carpenters, truck drivers, construction laborers and equipment operators, loggers and electricians had the highest levels of unemployment on the Peninsula last month.
Number of employed also dropped
According to the ESD, while unemployment dropped last month on the Peninsula, so did the total number of employed people.
Tess Camilon, ESD regional economist, said she could explain that in two ways: “Some people have found employment in the area or decided to move elsewhere.”
A state ESD prepared statement says that the state lost 16,000 non-agricultural jobs in September.
Industries that lost the most jobs statewide were in government, mostly in K-12 education; manufacturing and construction.
In Clallam County, government and service industry jobs saw increases, while jobs in the ESD’s manufacturing, trade, transportation and utility categories decreased.
Jefferson County also saw an increase in government jobs last month, but jobs in the ESD’s service and goods producing categories declined.
Education jobs
Camilon said the increase in government jobs on the North Olympic Peninsula is mostly in education.
So why would education jobs be dropping statewide but increasing locally?
Camilon explained that the number of education-related jobs statewide has likely decreased due to job losses in the larger metropolitan areas.
Camilon said that the drop in the unemployment rate doesn’t show that the Peninsula is out of the woods yet.
“Some economists are saying that it is over,” she said. “However, the pains of the recession or the impacts of it are still going to be felt for some time.”
Clallam County had 2,670 people unemployed last month, down from 2,820 in August.
The number of employed people dropped slightly from 28,520 in August to 28,260 in September.
In Jefferson County, the number of people unemployed dropped from 1,040 in August to 1,010 in September.
The number of employed people dropped slightly from 12,670 to 12,450.
The number of people receiving unemployment insurance also dropped, according to the ESD.
Clallam County had 1,162 people receiving aid in September, with 467 new people signing up for the program.
That is down from 1,346 in August.
The difference includes 101 people whose insurance expired.
Jefferson County had 435 people receiving unemployment insurance last month, with 148 new claims.
In August, it had 475 people receiving aid.
The change includes 45 people whose insurance expired.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
