More people jobless in county

The Journal

Ritzville — The number of unemployed residents in Adams County is increasing.

According to a state unemployment report released earlier this month, unemployment has been rising monthly over last year.

“Monthly rates have increased from February through May 2024 and Adam County’s 4.2% reading this May was 1 percentage point above the 3.2% rate in May 2023,” the report by Don Mesick said.

The lowest recent unemployment rate for the county was 3.2 percent in May 2023, according to the report.

While the number of jobless residents has increased, the number of people in the civilian labor four here has declined.

In May 2023, there were 9,710 people in the labor force. In May 2024, that number had decreased by 359 workers to 9,351, the report said.

Despite the decline in the number of workers, 79 more residents were out of work this May over last, the report said, calling the change a “step backwards for the local economy.”

Non-farm jobs

The county’s non-farm sector added 120 jobs last year. The number of non-farm jobs in the county remained steady at 6,650 from May 2023 to May 2024.

Two industries accounted for the new non-farm jobs, the report said. They are manufacturing/food processing and transportation/warehousing.

Countywide, there are 1,270 food processing jobs, the report said. Prior to the coronavirus shutdown mandate in 2020, the county only had 1,110 jobs.

In other non-farm jobs, the county’s retail job force has been in decline, the report said.

“Year over year, employment in Adams County’s retail trade industry either stagnated or decreased during the past four months,” the report said.

Retail jobs here were mostly in car parts, building and gardening supplies, grocery stores and gas stations.

The number of retail jobs dropped by 4.0 percent from May 2023 to May 2024, the report said.

On the positive side, Adams County’s hospitality industry appears to be growing.

According to the report, the county lost 9.3% of hospitality jobs in 2020 due to coronavirus shutdown mandates, but has bounced back with 15.4% job growth in 2021, 4.4% in 2022 and 6.4% in 2023.

The growth continued in May with 1.9% more jobs than in May 2023, the report said.

Last May, there were 520 hospitality and leisure jobs in the county; in May 2024, there were 530.

According to the report, Adams County strongest economic sector remains agriculture.

Ag growth

The employment report also took a quick look at the growth of agricultural jobs here over the 10-year period spanning 2013-2023.

During that time, county agriculture employment increased from 7,378 jobs to 9,415.

“In 2023, agricultural employment accounted for 31.4% of total covered employment countywide,” the report said. “The agricultural payroll (a subset of total covered wages/payroll) advanced even more sharply, from $55.6 million in 2013 to $119.8 million in 2023, a $64.2 million and 115.3% uptrend.”