Tri-City Area and Real Estate Blog

The national economic slowdown is seemingly catching up with the Tri-Cities if the latest job numbers are any indication.

But despite losing 800 nonfarm jobs in July, the Tri-Cities is the only major community in the state to see job growth in the last year, said Dean Schau, regional labor economist.

Most of the monthly job losses were in construction, financial services, education and health services and the public sector, he said.

Also, modest gains were reported in professional and business services, manufacturing, retail and the trade, transportaion and warehousing sector last month.

That helped bring down the unemployment rate in the Tri-Cities from 6.7 percent in June to 6.1 percent in July.

Since July 2008, the Tri-Cities gained 1,300 nonfarm jobs, an increase of nearly 1.4 percent, Schau said.

About 68,000 nonfarm jobs were lost over the year in the Seattle-Bellevue-Everett metro area, he said. And, Tacoma lost 13,500 nonfarm positions and Spokane was down 12,100 nonfarm jobs, bringing the tally of lost nonfarm jobs in the state to about 125,000.

The year-over-year numbers are a better indicator of economic trends, Schau said, adding the core of the Tri-Cities’ economic health lies primarily in agriculture production, food processing and electricity generation that provide consistent employment opportunities.

“We’ve an absolutely great economy to go into this recession,” he said. Yet, a lot of people, particularily in construction, real estate and finance are hurting, adding to the number of jobless workers in the community.

Amazon.com held a job fair Tuesday in Kennewick to hire seasonal help, said Candice Bluechel, business services outreach manager at WorkSource Columbia Basin.

But otherwise hiring in the retail industry has remained slower compared with last year, she said, adding that many local retailers didn’t hire lots of workers for the back to school shopping season.

Cosumers have been cutting back on major purchases like cars and appliances, which may explain the loss of about 400 jobs in the retail sector since July 2008, Schau said.

The federal stimulus programs like Cash for Clunkers are helping the local economy, but they haven’t immediately translated into jobs, Bluechel said.

WorkSource has about 600 job openings, and 300 of them came in July, she said. Most are farm-related jobs for laborers, mechanics, and truck drivers, she said. Also, employers continue to look for technical writers, invoice clerks and office support staff.

The Tri-City economy definitely is in better shape compared with other regions of the nation, she said, adding she doesn’t know how it’ll play out longer term. “I’m going to be conservative ’til I see what happens to holiday hires,” Bluechel said.

Yearly gains of about 200 jobs were reported in the food processing industry, 600 jobs in professional and business services and 100 in trade, transportation and warehousing, Schau said.

Major declines came in construction with a loss of 1,100 jobs since July 2008. The financial services sector lost 300 jobs in the same period.

The number of unemployed workers in Benton and Franklin counties increased from 6,450 in July 2008 to 8,180 last month. In contrast, the number of unemployed workers in Washington went up from 178,200 to 315,850 in the same time.

The state’s unemployment rate fell one-tenth of a percentage point, from 9.2 percent in June to 9.1 percent in July, said Dave Wallace, a labor economist with the Washington Employment Security Department. It was partly helped by the gain of an estimated 4,000 nonfarm jobs last month. “(But) it’s too early to call it a trend (of recovery.)” he said.

Employment Security Commissioner Karen Lee said though the July numbers show the recession is slowing. “We expect to see some ups and downs for some time to come.”

Source: Tri-City Herald

Federal stimulus money and a warm spring helped the Tri-Cities show some job growth at a time when other Washington communities are losing jobs.

Since May 2008, the Tri-Cities has gained 500 jobs in professional and business services, education and health services, leisure, hospitality and food services, said regional labor economist Dean Schau.

And since April, the local economy added 1,200 jobs — some of them seasonal — to bring the total nonfarm jobs to 95,200 in May.

That was thanks largely to Hanford and the construction, food processing, wholesale and retail trade areas, Schau said,

And though the number of workers in the community grew by 5,640 to a rate in Benton and Franklin counties dropped from 7.7 percent in April to 7.2 percent in May.

That’s a testimony to the fact that the Tri-Cities is continuing to grow, Schau told the Herald. “If you create 1,000 jobs, you’ll have 1,200 workers come in. That’s been like that for years.”

Several areas of the economy benefited from the federal stimulus money and the warmer weather that helped produce a good asparagus crop and drew tourists particularly from Western Washington.

Local employers including those in agriculture, food processing, retail and hospitality businesses, lately have come to WorkSource looking for employees for the season ahead, said Candice Bluechel, business services outreach manager at WorkSource Columbia Basin.

Many companies are even offering full-time, long-term jobs in security and transportation, she said, adding it could be a spinoff of stimulus projects.

“I’m feeling optimistic,” she said.

In contrast, Washington’s unemployment rate increased to 9.4 percent in May from the revised April unemployment rate of 9 percent, as the state lost 6,700 nonfarm jobs mostly in construction, information, financial and government areas last month.

In the Tri-Cities, the food services industry added about 100 jobs last month, and about 300 jobs since last May, said Schau, who is staying on with the state Department of Employment Security indefinitely despite his recent announcement of plans to leave the agency.

He said he suspects people are spending their money locally instead of vacationing far from home. Warm temperatures, wineries and outdoor activities may have lured many of them to the Tri-Cities.

Also, professional and business services, which includes engineering and wastes services, added 100 new jobs in May and about 400 for the year, Schau said.

For the next two to three years, Hanford cleanup will provide new jobs and save positions that were supposed to be eliminated, said Carl Adrian, president and CEO of Tri-City Development Council.

But the Tri-Cities is also being discovered by corporate America, which will help the area in the long run to diversify economically, Adrian said. For example, Cascade Natural Gas recently announced plans to move its main office to the Tri-Cities from Seattle.

Last month, the local government sector added 100 jobs as cities hired workers for summer recreational programs. But job growth in federal government has remained flat since April 2008, when it peaked at 1,300, Schau said.

The availability of a lot of fresh produce helped the warehousing sector gain 300 positions in May, compared with April. Growth in the financial services industry, which includes banking and real estate, remained stagnant. May saw a loss of 200 jobs compared with May a year ago. The health services industry also gained 100 positions in May.

Good weather helped create seasonal agricultural jobs, pushing the number of hires from 8,500 in April to 11,800 in May, Schau said. He said he expects seasonal ag hiring to continue because the cherry crop is expected to be good.

In late June and early July, workers will be needed for taking care of onions, peaches, apricots, watermelons and cantaloupe, said Bluecheel of WorkSource.

But no one is yet talking about an immediate recovery from the recession.

The state lost 116,000 jobs in the last year, a 3.0 percent decrease. “We’re still losing jobs, but at a lower rate than before,” said Mary Ayala, chief economist for the state Department of employment Security Department.

Source: Tri-City Herald

By the Herald staff

More homebuyers in the Tri-Cities will be eligible for loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration thanks to a provision in the stimulus package that temporarily raises loan limits, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development accounted Tuesday.

In the Tri-Cities and Benton and Franklin counties, the limit for a single-family house is now $275,000.

For a duplex, the limit is $352,050.

On a three-unit house, the limit is $425,550 and on a four-unit house it’s $528,850.

The limits previously were $271,050, $347,000, $419,400 and $521,250, respectively, and were established as the permanent limits at the beginning of 2009.

The most recent change in limits applies to all FHA-insured mortgage loans written between now and Dec. 31st.

The Tri-Cities gained about 3,100 non-farm jobs over the past year, but the national economic slowdown is beginning to take a toll as 800 non-farm jobs were lost last month, the State Employment Security Department reported Tuesday.

Annual data shows the Tri-Cities has weathered the economic storm better than much of the state, said Dean Schau, regional labor economist for the state Employment Security Department. he said the unemployment rate for Benton and Franklin counties in November was 6.1 percent, compared with the state’s overall rate of 6.4 percent.

Schau said area job gains came in the professional and business services sector; the retail, leisure and hospitality industries, and at school districts. But he said job growth has slowed and the number of unemployment insurance claims has risen significantly. Most of that is from losses in seasonal employment in agriculture and construction, he said.

There’s potential for further job losses, Schau said, but the food production, power generation industry and medical equipment manufacturing sector will help stabilize the area economy, “These are things people are gonna have to buy,” he said. Of the non-farm jobs lost last month, 600 were in the construction sector, which had supported 7,000 workers in October. Previously planned public and private capital projects have been completed and construction projects as there are fewer jobs to be had.

Manufacturing jobs also were down over the month by 500 as food processors slowed production in the fourth quarter. “The third quarter has the highest employment for the industry as it has to digest the late-season wine, potato and apple harvests,” Schau said. Like construction, food manufacturing had its best year in 2007, and during the first two quarters of 2008 it was up 5.2 percent over the same time the previous year, he said.

Meanwhile, retail trade saw an increase of 400 seasonal jobs in November, bringing the total jobs there to 12,000, up 200 from November 2007. Jobs in the financial services sector and wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing remained mostly flat. About 100 positions were added in the food services industry in November, and the sector gained about 400 jobs over the year.

Although the number of workers in the Tri-Cities labor force declined from 126,470 in October to 124,220 in November, that still was up by 4,450 workers compared with November 2007, Schau said. Candice Bluechel, business services outreach manager at WorkSource Columbia Basin, said the loss of 3,100 agricultural jobs in November led to a rush of job seekers at WorkSource.

There are about 65 job openings listed currently at WorkSource, Bluechel said. In Washington, the services sector jobs that comprise about 68 percent of all state jobs have been a saving grace, said Mary Ayala, chief economist for the state Employment Security Department. Those higher paying jobs haven’t been caught in the cyclical downward trend, she said.

But Ayala said an estimated 222,551 people are looking for work in the state and about 22,700 non-agricultural jobs were lost in November. “Just as we saw with the 2002 recession, Washington’s economy held up longer than most of the nation, but we’re quickly catching up now,” said Employment Security Commissioner Karen Lee.

Total non-agricultural jobs in Washington in November were down 22,400 over the same time in 2007, a 0.8 percent decrease. nationally, jobs declined by 1.4 percent over the past year.