While November may have been one of the most politically divisive months in recent memory, the Clark County economy was as consistent as ever, according to the latest reports from the state Employment Security Department.
Clark County gained 500 jobs, driving the unemployment rate from 6.1 percent in October to 5.7 percent in November. The unemployment rate is identical to last November.
The state’s 5.3 percent unemployment rate for November was the lowest since June 2008.
“It seems like things continue to improve. It can always be better, but it’s certainly going in the right direction,” said Scott Bailey, the department’s regional labor economist.
Seasonal hiring drove November’s job growth. Retail outlets like department stores added 300 jobs for the month to brace for holiday shopping. Hiring in K-12 education, which usually ticks up in the first few months of the school year, added another 200 jobs.
Bailey said November is usually the last month K-12 education hiring rises before it plateaus for the rest of the the school year.
“It bounces around a little bit but it usually stays pretty even from here on through May,” he said.
A sector that did not fare so well is food processing, which lost 300 jobs in November, according to the summary.
Also, wintry weather cooled construction employment by an estimated 100 jobs. Still, the construction sector has added 1,300 jobs since last November — an 11.7 percent increase.
For the year, Clark County has had a greater job growth rate than Washington, Oregon and the rest of the Portland area. The county has added 6,600 jobs for a 4.3 percent boost in the employed labor force, compared with 3 percent growth in Washington, 2.7 percent in Oregon and 2.5 percent in the metro area.
The hiring gains could continue into early 2017 as the Ilani Casino Resort hires hundreds of people ahead of its anticipated spring opening, Bailey wrote in his monthly labor market summary.
Portland metro area growth
The Portland metro area, which encompasses Clark and Skamania counties and five counties in northern Oregon, netted 2,500 more jobs in November.
Construction may be Portland’s hottest sector. Contractors reportedly cut fewer jobs than usual this time of year and building permits are at a 10-year high, according to the Oregon Employment Department.
Manufacturing reportedly cut more jobs than usual for this season, the department said; and private education added about 700 jobs fewer than anticipated.
Financial services, a hard-hit sector during the recession, gained 400 jobs in November and is 3,000 jobs shy from its pre-recession peak, the department said.
The unemployment rate for the Portland metro area fell to 4.6 percent in November, an improvement from 5.0 percent in October. In November 2015, the metro area registered 5.1 percent unemployment.
Annual job growth in the metro area is running slightly behind the last two years. Its 2.7 percent growth still outpaces the 1.6 percent growth for the rest of the United States — and many other major metropolitan areas — but it’s still lower than its 2014 and 2015 averages, at 3.0 and 3.3 percent, respectively.
