County adds 1,000 jobs in January, state data show

Clark County added 1,000 jobs to the workforce in January and continues to grow at a rate higher than the state and the nation.

That’s according to the latest jobs report from the state Employment Security Department, released Tuesday. January was the third consecutive month to add at least 700 jobs, when adjusting for seasonal trends, the report said.

Without making the adjustments, jobs fell by nearly 1,700 due to seasonal layoffs. The biggest sectors to cut jobs in the winter are the public sector and leisure and hospitality, both of which cut 300 jobs. Construction shed another 200.

Unemployment also ticked up to 5.5 percent, crossing the 5 percent threshold for the first time since spring 2017.

Still, Clark County outpaces its peers in job growth. The county has added 6,700 jobs over the past 12 months, amounting to about 4.3 percent job growth. The Vancouver-Portland metro area — which puts Clark and Skamania counties alongside five Oregon counties — added 36,200 jobs for a 2.7 percent growth.

Job growth over that same time has been 1.5 percent nationwide, 2.8 percent in Washington and 2.9 percent in Oregon.