Adams County unemployment rate drops
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 8 years, 5 months AGO
Unemployment rate
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | August 5, 2016 6:00 AM
RITZVILLE — Unemployment in Adams County dropped in May, both when compared with May 2016 and April 2016.
The nonfarm unemployment rate, not seasonally adjusted, was 5.5 percent in May 2016 compared to 5.9 percent in May 2015. That’s also a decline from April’s unemployment rate of 6.3 percent, said Don Meseck, regional labor economist for the Washington Employment Security Department. “The number of unemployed residents declined and the local labor force expanded,” Meseck wrote.
But the number of non-farm jobs available in Adams County declined between May 2015 and May 2016, Meseck said. “Year over year, nonfarm employment in Adams County has decreased for the past 11 months, July 2015 through May 2016. In May 2016 there were 240 fewer nonfarm jobs in Adams County than in May 2015.” The county lost 240 jobs, a 4.1 percent downturn, he said. “Certainly discouraging news for the local economy.”
Adams County’s civilian labor force expanded by 252 people between May 2015 and May 2016. “Since the (labor force) expanded year over year while nonfarm employment contracted, it is likely that many of the residents who re-entered the labor force this May are working the county’s agricultural sector.”
Job growth declined in Adams County between May 2015 and May 2016; the county had 240 fewer nonfarm jobs. That bucks the state trend of 3.2 percent job growth, Meseck said.
MORE SUN-TRIBUNE-ARCHIVES STORIES
ARTICLES BY CHERYL SCHWEIZER
Fed. Judge issues order delaying stop on birthright citizenship
OLYMPIA — A Seattle-based federal judge granted a request from the Washington Attorney General’s Office for a temporary restraining order to delay an executive order that could reinterpret the rules of birthright citizenship issued by President Donald Trump. U.S. District Court Judge John Coughenour issued the restraining order Thursday, two days after the AG’s office had filed suit.
4 officers join Quincy PD
4 officers join Quncy PD
Classes, research results, latest tech at 2025 Washington-Oregon Potato Conference
KENNEWICK — Farmers can learn about new methods to fight insects and disease, water use and management, work rules and market conditions at the annual Washington-Oregon Potato Conference Jan. 28 to 30 at the Three Rivers Convention Center, 7016 Grandridge Blvd., Kennewick. Along with the classes and workshops – and a baked potato bar – the conference offers a trade show that fills not one but two buildings. The Washington Potato Commission, one of the sponsors, estimated there would be more than 165 exhibitors. The trade show opens Jan. 28, which is the first day of workshops and classes. Some classes provide continuing education credits that can be applied toward pesticide application license requirements.