PORT ANGELES — Post-holiday job losses in the service sector pushed up January unemployment on the North Olympic Peninsula, the state Employment Security Department reported Tuesday.
Clallam County unemployment rose from 10.5 percent in December to 11.1 percent in January, said Elizabeth Court, regional economist with Employment Security.
Jefferson County’s jobless rate moved up from 10 percent in December to 10.5 percent in January, Court said.
Court said unemployment tends to “blip up” in January as temporary seasonal jobs are shed.
“We don’t really like to see that,” Court added.
Clallam County lost 430 jobs in the private sector and 20 in government in January.
“Because government already had a lot of cuts, most were in the private sectors,” Court said.
Clallam County’s lost 320 service sector jobs from December to January, including 100 in retail.
The number of unemployed job-seekers rose from 3,100 in December to 3,220 in January, Court said.
“In Jefferson County, we saw a similar picture with losses across the board,” Court said.
“The service sector took the biggest hit there as well.”
Jefferson County lost a total of 90 jobs — 60 in the private sector and 30 in government — at last count.
The number of job-seekers who were looking for work in Jefferson County went from 1,230 to 1,280 in January.
The state unemployment rate went from a revised 8.6 percent in December to a preliminary 8.3 percent in January.
Court said the state has gained 62,000 jobs in the past year and has seen job growth in 10 of the past 12 months.
Whitman County in southeast Washington had the state’s lowest jobless rate at 5.8 percent in January.
Ferry County in northeast Washington had the highest at 14.9 percent.
County unemployment numbers for February will be released March 27.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
