Job market expected to recover slowly

Clark County’s 2009 job market was described by experts as among the worst of the past 25 years. Local employers made cuts in almost every sector as the housing industry slumped, manufacturers shed workers and the financial industry faced business turmoil.

Totals include full- and part-time employees.

1. Southwest Washington Medical Center: 3,444
2. Vancouver Public Schools: 3,343.
3. Evergreen Public Schools: 3,151.
4. Clark County: 1,618.
5. Battle Ground Public Schools: 1,441.
6. Fred Meyer stores: 1,360.
7. Safeway: 1,270.
8. Bonneville Power Administration: 1,161.
9. City of Vancouver: 1,110.
10. WaferTech: 937.
11. SEH America Inc.: 764.

SOURCES: Columbian survey, Columbia River Economic Development Council.

The only sector to add jobs last year was the health care industry, which responded to increasing demand for services. The county’s major health care employers — Southwest Washington Medical Center, Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center and The Vancouver Clinic — all completed capital projects and expansions. The industry added more than 700 new jobs in 2009, with total employment reaching more than 15,200.

On the other hand, the hard-hit business sectors were construction, down 14.7 percent, or 1,600 jobs; manufacturing, down 13.3 percent, or 1,800 jobs; and general retail merchandising, down 12.5 percent, or 600 jobs. Even K-12 education and government — federal, state and county — began to reduce employment by year’s end to the tune of 100 jobs.

Total employment in the county at the end of 2009 stood at 128,500, down 5,900 jobs in the 12 months through November.

Job growth is expected to recover slowly beginning in 2010 and continue building into 2011 and 2012.

The unemployment rate climbed to record monthly highs as people continued to move into Clark County even as employers were cutting staff. The number of people unemployed and looking for work more than doubled in 2009, with nearly 30,000 people on the jobless rolls.

In the face of a weaker economy, developers put proposed capital projects around the county on hold, including Home Depot and Walmart stores in Battle Ground, a Walmart in east Vancouver, the development of Evergreen Landing on Mill Plain Boulevard in east Vancouver and a downtown Vancouver mixed use project called Riverwest.

Forecasts call for the job market to remain weak through most of 2010, with home building and manufacturing making a gradual recovery.

Meanwhile, the list of the county’s Top 10 Employers continued to be dominated by government agencies, including county and city government, as well as school districts, employing 24,500 people. Trade, transportation and utilities employed 24,300 workers with education and health services providing jobs for 18,800.

The best employment prospects in 2010 were expected to be in health care, driven by a growing and aging county population of 424,000, up from 345,238 in 2000.