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Clark County jobless rate ‘disturbingly high’

March figure of 10.5 percent likely to be revised upward

By Aaron Corvin, Columbian Port & Economy Reporter
Published: April 19, 2011, 12:00am

Clark County’s economy continued to leak jobs in March, with employment falling 500 jobs from the same period a year ago, the state Employment Security Department reported Tuesday.

Total county employment was an estimated 124,900 in March — 100 more jobs than in February. No industry changed by more than 100 jobs, up or down, during the month.

“Unemployment remains disturbingly high in Southwest Washington” — where Clark County carries the bulk of the region’s population — “and job growth depressingly low,” Scott Bailey, regional labor economist for the state Employment Security Department, wrote in his report Tuesday.

Clark County’s initial jobless rate for March was 10.5 percent. However, that rate is expected to be revised upward when jobless claims of county residents who work in Oregon are factored in. The same adjustment was made for Clark County’s February labor market results, which posted a preliminary unemployment rate of 10.2 percent. The February rate has been revised to 12.9 percent, reflecting an upward revision of more than two percentage points.

Employment in Oregon has been growing at an annualized rate of 3.4 percent since September, according to Bailey, and the jobless rate there has nudged down. It’s a development that would seem to bode well for employment in Clark County, where many workers cross the Interstate 5 bridge to work in the Portland metro area.

But Bailey said communities north of the bridge have yet to reap the benefits of the trend. “It should help,” he said. “Some Clark County residents will be picking up those jobs and bringing some of that money back home.”

For now, Clark County is still hurting from the Great Recession and prolonged economic hardship. The county has lost 10,800 jobs since the recession began in 2007. The job picture for March showed three industries in particular have taken sizable hits: The construction, health care and social assistance, and government sectors were each down 400 jobs from March 2010.

Losses in the construction and government sectors aren’t surprising. The county’s residential and commercial building markets remain weak. Meanwhile, government budgets are under the ax.

However, the job losses in health care are somewhat surprising considering the sector has held some ground despite the economic recession. Bailey said that sector’s losses are due to a lingering problem: People who lost their jobs also lost their health insurance and are therefore unable to pay for medical treatment.

One bright spot for the county was its professional and business services sector: It was up 300 jobs in March from the same period a year ago. Bailey said some of that uptick is because employment is up at temporary job placement agencies.

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Columbian Port & Economy Reporter