12,400 jobs added in state in January

Washington had good economic news in January, adding jobs for the first time in 14 months. The figures weren't as encouraging in Thurston County, which shed jobs and saw its unemployment rate climb past 8 percent, according to jobless data released Tuesday by the state Employment Security Department.

Although seasonally adjusted statewide unemployment rose to 9.3 percent in January from 9.2 percent in December, the state still added 12,400 jobs. Excluding transportation, warehousing and utilities, other statewide industries added positions, including educational and health services – 2,800 new jobs – and construction – 2,700 new jobs, the data show.

Thurston County’s unemployment rate, which is not seasonally adjusted, increased in January to 8.7 percent as employers shed 2,200 jobs, including losses in retail, professional and business services, leisure, and hospitality and government. The government job losses were evenly split between the local and state levels, with each shedding 300 jobs, Jim Vleming, a regional economist for ESD, said.

The county’s jobless rate rose 0.5 percentage points in January from 7.7 percent in December. A year ago the county’s jobless rate was 7.1 percent, the data show.

The South Sound economy likely will improve as the weather gets better for construction and as credit starts to loosen up, although the “state budget still is hanging over our heads,” Vleming said.

“We’re not out of the woods yet,” he said, adding that it might not be a jobless recovery, but the recovery of one job at a time.

Tuesday, at the Thurston County WorkSource office in Tumwater, about 24 people were called to a special meeting to get tips on how to better compete in this job market. Among them was Lauren Ferriby of Olympia, who said she hasn’t had a job in eight months. She said her job prospects have improved the past two weeks but added that she has applied for an estimated 500 jobs since she last was employed.

“You start to wonder at what point this changes,” said Ferriby, 50, who used to work in corporate training and development in Tacoma. She said she has been unemployed before, but never for this long. She said she once was out of work for 45 days during a time when the economy was much stronger. She also was thankful for the jobless benefits she has received.

“I’m not sure what life would be like without it,” Ferriby said.

Penny Payne, 51, who also was at WorkSource on Tuesday, said she is looking for work as an administrative assistant after moving to Lacey from Dallas in early January to be closer to her daughter. She has applied for a “couple hundred” jobs and had only one interview. If nothing happens by the end of this week, she’s going to contact friends in the Dallas area to put out feelers about jobs there, Payne said.

Rolf Boone: 360-754-5403

rboone@theolympian.com

www.theolympian.com/bizblog