GRANT COUNTY - Slow growth is better than a decline.

So said Tihamiyou Baba-Moussa, regional labor economist, as he considered the latest unemployment numbers for Grant County.

Employers added 1,190 new jobs over the year, from February 2007 to February 2008. The increase is up from a previous employment level of 25,500 jobs, about 4.7 percent.

Baba-Moussa said the year's performance was "much better" than the last two years, when local businesses added 850 positions in 2007 and 1,180 in 2006.

During the month of February, Grant County gained 120 jobs, Baba-Moussa added, an increase of one-half of 1 percent and the first job gain since December.

In December 2007, he added, there was a job decrease of 360, and 290 jobs were lost in January 2008.

Baba-Moussa said he was not able to break down information to determine the reason for the losses, but noted Grant County does not have as many industries as King County.

The county's unemployment rate rose to 8.6 percent, up one-fifth of a percent from 8.4 percent in February 2007, Baba-Moussa said. The 8.6 unemployment rate is the second lowest unemployment rate since 1990.

During the month of February, the unemployment rate went down by 0.3 percent. About 3,380 Grant County residents were unemployed out of a labor force of 39,140.

Trade, transportation and utilities jobs were down during the month of February, but led the growth over the last 12 months with a job gain of 340.

"There's growth … there's no doubt about it," Baba-Moussa said. "So as you can see we are growing, but at a slower pace than we wanted to be. For sure, we are growing. That's sure a good thing."

Whether slow growth is better than rapid growth can depend, Baba-Moussa said.

"Slow growth is better than a decline," he said. "It's not easy to predict the future, but at this point, what we are seeing, we are really doing much better than other regions in the state and in the country."