A growing labor force contributed to a growing jobless rate on the North Olympic Peninsula last month, the state Employment Security Department reported Tuesday.
Clallam County’s unemployment rate rose from a revised 11.1 percent in February to 11.6 percent in March.
Jefferson County’s jobless rate spiked from 10.7 percent to 11.1 percent last month.
“We’re seeing more people re-enter the labor force,” said Elizabeth Scott, regional economist for Employment Security.
“That’s one of the reasons we see the rate increasing a little bit.”
Scott said the more job seekers — 140 in Jefferson County and 60 in Clallam County — joined the labor force last month as the economy shows signs of improvement.
“More people are starting to say, ‘OK, I’m going to start entering the labor force,’” she said.
Jefferson County gained 60 jobs in March. Clallam County lost about 60 nonfarm jobs, Scott said.
“Manufacturing was down and so was retail [in Clallam County], but in Jeffco, it was sort of an opposite picture,” she said.
First-time unemployment claims continued a downward trend on the Peninsula.
There were 613 first-time unemployment claims filed in Clallam County last month, down from 781 in January and up from 602 in February.
Jefferson County had 138 first-time unemployment claims in March, down from 204 in January and 182 in February.
The unemployment rates for both counties were within a tenth of a percentage point of their levels in March 2010.
Meanwhile, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate went from 9.1 percent to 9.2 percent in March, and the national jobless rate dipped from 8.9 percent to 8.8 percent.
Whitman County in Southeast Washington had the state’s lowest unemployment rate at 6.9 percent for March.
Ferry County in Northeast Washington had the highest at 16.8 percent.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
