PORT ANGELES — Unemployment held steady at about 9 percent on the North Olympic Peninsula in October, the state Employment Security Department announced this week.
Clallam County’s jobless rate was 9.3 percent last month, up slightly from a revised 9.2 percent in September.
Jefferson County’s unemployment was 8.8 percent in October compared with 8.9 percent in September.
“If you look at the numbers even more, it’s basically flat,” said Elizabeth Scott, regional economist for Employment Security, after figures were released Tuesday.
“There was not a lot of news.
“We’re still waiting for the housing market to recover and get some of those people back into those construction jobs.”
Clallam County gained 150 goods-producing jobs in October but lost 170 in the service sector.
New unemployment claims rose from 422 in September to 534 in October in Clallam County.
There were 4,280 job seekers looking for work in Clallam County’s 66,920-member workforce.
Clallam County had a 9.1 percent unemployment rate in October 2010.
Jefferson County saw a loss of 90 private-sector jobs and a gain of 50 government jobs, Scott said.
Most of the new government jobs were seasonal education jobs, she added.
First-time unemployment claims in Jefferson County rose from 135 in September to 161 in October, Scott said.
There were 1,110 job seekers still unemployed in Jefferson County’s 12,470-member labor force.
Unemployment was 8.7 percent in Jefferson County in October 2010.
