Jobless rate up in county

Yakima County has shown signs of economic slowdown with increases in the number of lost jobs and the number of people without jobs.

The county had 79,400 nonagricultural jobs in October, a decline of 1.1 percent from the same month a year ago, according to preliminary figures from the state Employment Security Department.

At the same time, about 7,450 residents were without jobs last month, resulting in an unemployment rate of 5.8 percent, the highest for the month in four years.

In October 2007, the county’s unemployment rate was 4.2 percent.

“We’re at a turning point,” said Don Meseck, regional economist for the Employment Security Department. “It’s a negative turning point. The economy is on relatively shaky ground now.”

The number of nonagricultural jobs statewide declined 0.7 percent, due mostly to the Boeing strike. When strike-related jobs were not calculated, the number of nonagricultural jobs in the state remained flat with a increase of just 0.1 percent from October 2007.

Workers involved with the strike, however, were not considered unemployed. The state had an unemployment rate of 5.8 percent last month, the highest in four years. In October 2007, the unemployment rate was 4.0 percent.

But not all saw a decline —  farther down the Interstate 82 corridor, the number of jobs in the Tri-Cities area actually increased about 3.7 percent, due to a surge of jobs in several sectors, primarily government and professional business services.

 While Yakima County figures are not rosy, it could have been worse, Meseck said.

After early predictions that this year’s apple crop would be reduced by the cold snap that occurred in early spring, the latest estimates show that growers are expected to harvest a record-breaking 109 million boxes this year.

“Right now we’re scheduled to pack 10 percent more than last year,” said Keith Mathews, executive director of the Yakima Valley Growers-Shippers Association. “That means 10 percent more work and 10 percent more paycheck.”

But it was not enough, as other sectors that have consistently reported gains showed flat or declining numbers. Health services, which had big gains this year, were flat last month.

Retail trade was the only sector to report gains, with 100 jobs. In contrast, nondurable goods, which includes positions in food processing companies, lost a whopping 800 jobs.

Meseck said he does not expect a slowdown to end anytime soon. “I would predict, when we get November data, you’re not going to see a lot of change,” he said.

• Mai Hoang can be reached at 577-7685 or  mhoang@yakimaherald.com.

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