Thurston county jobless rate up to 5.7%

Slow real estate market, higher fuel prices factor into unemployment

By Rolf Boone | The Olympian • Published July 16, 2008

Thurston County's unemployment rate jumped in June to 5.7 percent, up from 5.1 percent in May, the result of a cooling economy brought about by a slower housing market and higher gasoline prices, according to data released Tuesday by the state Employment Security Department.

The county's June unemployment rate also was higher than the month's seasonally adjusted rate of 5.5 percent statewide, and it was well more than the 4.4 percent reported in Thurston County in June 2007.

The South Sound economy added jobs in the May-to-June period, but over the year it has shed construction and financial services jobs as the economy has cooled, regional economist Jim Vleming said. There is a seasonal effect in June, too, as summer job seekers enter the work force and push the unemployment rate higher.

"Business has definitely slowed down from where we were a year ago," he said.

In the past year in the county, the construction industry lost 300 jobs, and 500 were shed in professional and business services, according to the ESD.

Still, Thurston County managed to add 1,400 jobs overall in the past year, translating into a job-growth rate of 1.4 percent, ESD data show. That outpaced the state job-growth rate of 1.1 percent.

Although the job-growth rate data were strong, Thurston County's jobless rate is unlikely to drop below 5 percent soon, Vleming said.

"Those days are gone for a while," he said.

Thurston County WorkSource Deputy Director Marlene Groening said her Tumwater office, a starting point for many job seekers or the unemployed, has been busier.

"These are tough times," she said.

Job seekers were busy scanning employment openings at the WorkSource office Tuesday.

Single mother Julie Raley of Olympia, who is partially deaf, said she has been looking for full-time work for two years. Employers seem unwilling to train these days and want only to hire those with exactly the right skills, she said.

"Now, you have to know everything before you get your foot in the door," she said.

Adding to her frustration is having to look for work while gasoline prices remain higher than $4 per gallon.

"It's been horrible," she said, adding that she has been skipping meals to pay for fuel.

Les Christiansen of Olympia, unemployed since April, said he is trying to find a position in a human resources department. Christiansen, who spent more than 20 years in the Army, said he has noticed that the number of jobs being advertised is going down.

"All I know right now is that it is a pain in the backside (to find a job)," he said.

Record-high gasoline prices also have forced him to adjust his job search.

"The amount of pay dictates how far it is worth commuting," he said.

Rolf Boone covers business for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-754-5403 or rboone@theolympian.com.