Unemployment rates held steady on the North Olympic Peninsula last month as the region’s labor force grew by more than 200 residents, state estimates show.
Clallam County’s jobless rate went from a revised 7.7 percent in April to a preliminary 7.8 percent in May, the state Employment Security Department reported Tuesday.
Jefferson County unemployment remained at 7.1 percent last month, according to preliminary estimates.
Both counties had slight dips in unemployment rates in February, March and April.
In May, there were 25,276 working Clallam County residents and 2,124 seeking work, Employment Security said. Jefferson County had 10,629 working citizens and 812 looking for a job.
Employment Security considers a person unemployed if he or she is out of work, is available for work and has actively sought work in the past month.
The size of the Clallam and Jefferson County labor forces grew modestly in May. Clallam County’s workforce went from 27,201 in April to 27,400 in May. Jefferson County added 40 residents to its now 11,441-member labor force.
King County had the lowest unemployment in the state at 4.4 percent in May.
Ferry County had the highest unemployment at 9.2 percent.
The state unemployment rate remained at 5.8 percent in May, while national unemployment dipped from 5.0 percent to 4.7 percent, according to Employment Security and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The state added 8,700 jobs from April to May on a seasonally adjusted basis, Employment Security said.
Unemployment rates at the county level are not seasonally adjusted because the sample size is too small to accommodate the additional analysis, officials said.
