ELLENSBURG — Unemployment in Adams County fell to 3.8% in June 2022, the fifth straight monthly decline this year, according to preliminary data published by the Washington State Department of Employment Security last week.

According to the report, the preliminary unemployment rate is significantly lower than the 5.2% posted in June 2021, with year-over-year unemployment figures posting declines for the last 15 months. The decline in unemployment comes even as the county’s civilian workforce grew 7.8% in June 2022 when compared with June 2021, the report noted.

However, despite those figures, the report noted that the total Adams County civilian workforce is still smaller in June 2022 than it was in June 2019 prior to the shutdowns in early 2020 in response to the outbreak of COVID-19. It also stated that 10,937 county residents were counted in the civilian workforce in June 2022 compared with 11,163 in June 2019.

Nearly every non-farm employment sector posted gains in employment, the report said. However, the number of workers in the county’s mining, logging and construction sectors fell by 27.3% in June 2022 to 80 from 110 the same month in 2021. The report noted that 90% of workers listed as employed in manufacturing work in food processing, with total manufacturing employment rising 5.3% to 1,200 jobs in June 2022 from 1,140 jobs the previous year.

“Year over year, manufacturing employment in Adams County has increased in each of the past 14 months,” the report said...