Employment in Clark County sees ‘average October’

It was a run-of-the-mill October for Clark County’s job market, which saw a gain of 2,900 jobs. And most of those — 1,700 jobs — were seasonal positions from the education sector with school back in session.

The Washington Employment Security Department released its monthly employment numbers on Tuesday, showing “an average October,” said Southwest Washington regional economist Scott Bailey.

Employment fell by 100 jobs in October, according to the data, but the 2,900-job gain brings the total to 172,200 for nonfarm, seasonally adjusted jobs.

Bailey said that the reported job estimates for the last six months were revised to show that the initial numbers were a little low; the county gained 600 more jobs than previously reported from those past six months.

“I consider that good news,” he said.

After October, construction, the fastest growing sector in the county, is expected to slow. But until then, it’s doing well, gaining more than 1,000 jobs over the last 12 months.

The year’s job growth is 1.7 percent in Clark County, which is “a little faster than the national average and a little slower than the state average,” Bailey said. That increase matched Portland’s.

The county’s unemployment rate slightly increased. The rate sits at 4.8 percent, less than half of a percentage point higher than a year ago.