Clark County’s job market for September saw a loss of roughly 3,200 seasonally adjusted jobs, the vast majority in education. Of the lost jobs, about 1,200 were layoffs; the rest were seasonal jobs that were never filled.
“In most industries, there wasn’t much of a change,” said Scott Bailey, regional economist for Southwest Washington. “It was mostly schools.”
Bailey said the accuracy of the employment statistics is lower than before the pandemic because there were more consistent patterns in industries. However, next month, the state will release revised statistics for April, May and June. They will be much more accurate; the revisions are based on quarterly tax reports that come directly from employers instead of using samples.
“All these numbers are so imprecise at this point,” he said.
All other industries in Clark County saw relatively small changes in employment in September, Bailey said. Manufacturing and transportation were both up by about 100 jobs.
“There was a big loss in April, and a not-so-good in May,” Bailey said about the Clark County job market. “There was a comeback in June and July, but that’s tapered off. We’re in a new normal that’s closer to the usual trend for the month.”
Over the year, banking and insurance companies are the only industries showing an increase in jobs. Other industries that are only slightly down are real estate, some retail, including grocery stores, and some manufacturing companies.
The leisure and hospitality industry, which includes hotels and restaurants, are down by 4,300 jobs over a year, about a 25 percent fall.
“When the weather starts to go, that’s another story,” Bailey said, referring to the loss of restaurants’ outdoor seating.
Despite the September losses in the education sector, they haven’t been reflected in unemployment insurance claims, Bailey said.
“We’re all scratching our heads on this,” he said.
Clark County’s unemployment rate was about 8.1 percent. In comparison, August’s rate was 9.5 percent. Bailey said September 2019’s rate was almost four points lower at 4.2 percent.
The number of unemployed in September was about 19,002, which is almost 9,000 more than a year ago. “The unemployment rate was about twice as high as it was a year ago,” he said. “It has come (since the start of the pandemic), and the number of people filing claims has come down. The claims are our best indicator, and we’re shifting toward longer-term unemployed.”
The state will release today two weeks’ worth of weekly unemployment insurance claims data.
