State jobs report shows unemployment drops from 9.2 to 9.1 percent in February

According to the state Employment Security Department between January 2011 and February 2011, Washington state added 800 jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis. The private sector lost 900 jobs and the public sector added 1,700 jobs over the month.

From February 2010 to February 2011, job gains totaled 27,900. The private sector added 31,100 jobs over the year, while the public sector lost 3,200 jobs.

While the monthly and annual figures both show total job gains, the underlying pattern of gains and losses for the two time periods are opposite. Over the month, only four of the 13 industry sectors posted job gains. Over the year, only four of the 13 industry sectors had job losses. Though job growth contracted in many sectors over the month, the annual trend is positive.

Washington’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for February 2011 fell to 9.1 percent from the January’s revised rate of 9.2 percent. The initial January unemployment rate of 9.1 was increased by 0.1 percent. Both employment and unemployment declined, but the decline in unemployment was greater, pushing down the rate.

 

Monthly employment changes, January 2011 to February 2011

Nonfarm payrolls grew by 800 jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis between January 2011 and February 2011. The private sector lost 900 jobs and the public sector added 1,700 jobs.

The preliminary employment change between December 2010 and January 2011 was a gain of 11,000 jobs. This figure has been revised up to a gain of 17,500 jobs.

 

Goods-producing industries over the month

The goods-producing group of industries gained 3,900 jobs in February primarily due to growth in construction. The other two goods-producing sectors effectively canceled each other out – manufacturing lost 100 jobs and mining and logging gained 100 jobs.

Within the construction sector, specialty trade contractors gained the most jobs, up 2,300 (2.7 percent). This represents a substantial turnaround for the specialty trade industry, which lost almost 5,000 jobs in the three months that preceded February. The other two major construction industries, construction of buildings and heavy and civil engineering, both gained 800 jobs over the month.

Within the manufacturing sector, aerospace (400) and food manufacturing (600) had job growth but nearly all other industries had moderate job losses. The growth in aerospace continues a pattern of growth in recent months. Job gains in the food manufacturing industry follow three consecutive months of losses.

 

Service-providing industries over the month

The monthly job loss among service-providing sectors (-3,100) was the first since October 2010, and it contrasts with annual growth of 29,600 jobs.

The January and February job reports for the service-providing industries are remarkably dissimilar. Except for information, other services, and leisure and hospitality, service sectors that added jobs in January lost jobs in February, and those that lost jobs in January gained jobs in February.

Government led all sectors in job gains, up by 1,700. The only other service-providing sector to add jobs over the month was leisure and hospitality, up 1,600. Retail trade (-1,500) showed the largest jobs decline, followed by wholesale trade (-1,400 jobs) and financial activities (-1,300). Professional and business services; transportation, warehousing and utilities; education and health services; information; and other services also lost jobs between January and February 2011.

Most of the public sector gains came at the federal level, which grew by 1,000 jobs. The state added 800 jobs, all in state education, while local government declined by 100 jobs.

Leisure and hospitality added 1,600 jobs, mostly in the arts, entertainment and recreation industry (1,000). This is the third consecutive month of gains for leisure and hospitality, amounting to 4,500 jobs.

The job declines in retail trade follow on the heels of two months of solid employment gains. Losses in retail trade were concentrated in the building material and garden supply stores (-500) and food and beverage stores (-700).

Wholesale trade saw its first job losses since October of last year, most of it coming from nondurable goods merchant wholesalers (-900).

The financial activities sector suffered its first decline since September 2010, losing 1,300 jobs in February. Insurance carriers made up of the majority of the loss, down 900 jobs.

 

Annual employment changes, February 2010 to February 2011

Between February 2010 and February 2011, total payroll employment was up by 27,900, a 1 percent increase. Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the state of Washington has lost 5.6 percent (-167,100) of its jobs while the nation has lost 5.4 percent (-7,468,000).

Over the year, service-providing industries grew by 29,600 jobs, while goods-producing industries shrunk by 1,700 jobs. Of the 13 sectors that make up the goods-producing and service-producing industries, nine grew over the year. The most job gains were in professional and business services (18,700) and the most job losses were in construction (-5,400).

 

Goods-producing industries over the year

Annual job losses in the construction sector (-5,400) were evenly split across the three subsectors, construction of buildings (-1,800), specialty trade (-1,800) and heavy and civil engineering (-1,800). As a percentage, heavy and civil engineering was the hardest hit, down 10.3 percent over the year. Since the start of the recent recession in December 2007, construction is down 71,300 jobs (-34.1 percent).

Over the year, manufacturing has grown by 3,600 jobs, a 1.4 percent increase. Transportation and equipment manufacturing (2,900) had the largest growth of any of the manufacturing subsectors, which includes aerospace product and parts manufacturing. Food manufacturing experienced the largest decrease, down 1,600 jobs over the year. Mining and logging remained nearly flat over the year, up just 100 jobs.

 

Service-providing industries over the year

Professional and business services led all service sectors in job growth, up 18,700 over the year. This sector was followed by education and health services (9,800); leisure and hospitality (3,000); wholesale trade (2,600); retail trade (1,300); financial activities (700); and information (100). Other services (-2,800) led the private service sectors in job losses over the year, followed by transportation, warehousing and utilities (-600).

Most of the professional and business service subsectors had extremely positive job gains over the year with the exception of accounting and bookkeeping services (-1,800) and management of companies and enterprises, which was flat. Employment services was up 16 percent, followed by computer systems design and related services (13.4 percent).

Within the education and health services sector, health services and social assistance (5,100) saw the largest job gains, mostly from hospitals (2,700) and social assistance (1,300). Education services also saw strong job growth, up 4,700 over the year (9.6 percent). Since the start of the recession in December 2007, education and health services has grown by 27,800 jobs, a 7.8 percent increase.

Retail trade gained 1,300 jobs over the year, led by other retail trade (1,500) and motor vehicle and parts dealers (700). Building material and garden supply stores had the largest contraction (-1,100).

Accommodation and food services (4,800) was the only positive contributing subsector within leisure and hospitality. The other subsector, arts, entertainment and recreation, lost 1,800 jobs.

The financial activities sector grew by 700 jobs, led by real estate, rental and leasing (2,300). However, finance and insurance lost 1,600 jobs over the year.

Of the annual job losses in the other services sector (-2,800), most came from the membership associations and organizations industry (-2,500).

Over the year, both state (-1,900) and local (-2,100) government contracted while the federal government expanded (800).

 

Labor Force Unemployment Data, seasonally adjusted

Washington’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate declined to 9.1 percent while the preliminary January estimate was revised up to 9.2. Over the year, the unemployment rate fell by 0.9 percentage points from the revised February 2010 rate of 10 percent.

The monthly decrease in the unemployment rate was due to unemployment falling more rapidly than employment. Between January and February employment was down by 5,567 persons, a 0.2 percent drop. Unemployment fell by 6,213 persons, a decline of 1.9 percent.

 

Comparing Share of Employment in Washington State and the Nation

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Employment Statistics (CES) data series is useful for comparing Washington state’s share of national industry employment. Share of employment is the ratio of Washington employment to national employment.

Washington provided 1.94 percent of the nation’s employment in January 1990. This share has risen steadily in the 20 years since, reaching 2.16 percent in 2010.

The graphs below use CES data to illustrate which industries in our state have relatively high and low employment compared to the nation.

Service-providing industries make up most of the state’s employment base, so the service-providing trend line tracks very closely with total employment trend line (Figure 2 – see full pdf report for figures in this section). The goods-providing industries have diverged significantly, having periods of lower and higher employment shares.

Of the goods-producing sectors, the mining and logging industry stands out (Figure 3). Mining and logging employment in Washington state has fallen from 10,600 in January 2000 to 5,800 in December 2010, while national employment rose from 592,000 to 732,000 over the same period. Over the last recession, it appears that our state’s share of employment in construction was relatively high. Construction peaked in the spring of 2008 and now looks to be returning to pre-recessionary levels.

The information industry stands out among service-providing sectors because Washington state has a high share of national employment in this sector. In the last 20 years, Washington state’s share of employment in information has more than doubled – growing from 1.85 percent in 1990 to 3.85 percent in 2010. Most of the employment numbers discussed in this report refer to jobs, not persons. For example, if a person holds down two positions, these positions are counted as two jobs in the employment series. In the section titled “Labor Force Unemployment Data,” these positions refer to individuals, not jobs. In this case, a person holding down two jobs is counted only once.