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Clark County’s job growth shines compared to region, nation

Banfield move brought 650 jobs to Vancouver

By Patty Hastings, Columbian Social Services, Demographics, Faith
Published: July 26, 2016, 4:35pm

Employment in Clark County went up, up, up in June, with nonfarm employment rising by 1,100 jobs. The number reflects Banfield Pet Hospital’s moving its headquarters — and 650 employees — from Portland to Vancouver.

“Even without that, it was a good month for job creation,” said Scott Bailey, regional economist at the state Employment Security Department.

The department reported Tuesday that the county kept up its rapid job growth rate of 4.5 percent, or 6,800 more jobs than in the same month one year earlier. That’s a higher rate than the Portland metro area (3.1 percent), Washington (3.1) or the country as a whole (1.7 percent).

The “boring good news report,” as Bailey described it, said that all major sectors added jobs over the year. The largest increase was in the management of companies, or corporate offices, which rose by 700 jobs. Construction, manufacturing, trade, transportation and utilities, and leisure and hospitality each added a few hundred jobs.

Unemployment was estimated at 6.5 percent for June. While unemployment went up slightly from June of last year, Bailey said that’s entirely due to more potential workers’ entering the labor force, which he said is a healthy sign.

For years during and after the recession, some unemployed people gave up looking for a job, so they wouldn’t have been considered in unemployment figures.

“Now they’re coming back in,” Bailey said.

The civilian labor force grew 3.6 percent from June 2015.

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Columbian Social Services, Demographics, Faith