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Stephen Dunphy / Times staff columnist
Add up the regions of the state and economy looks good

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But the state is made up of many submarkets, each of which might have a different story than the statewide tale. Here's a quick look at what is happening in most of the metro areas of the state, other than the Seattle-Bellevue area, from the Labor Market Summaries filed each month at the Employment Security Department.

Bellingham: June is seasonal in more ways than temperature for Whatcom County's largest city. The end of the education year means a dip in jobs at schools and at Western Washington University. As a result, the unemployment rate in June reached 5 percent, up from 4.7 percent in May but still far below the 6.2 percent figure posted last June.

The Whatcom County area grows but slowly. In the 12 months through June, jobs were up 1.3 percent, below the statewide average. The remainder of summer will be positive as construction activities pick up and the summer tourist season expands jobs opportunities .

Bremerton : The unemployment rate was up in June, but the Kitsap County region also is posting some growth. Employment reached 81,000 in June, up 500 from May.

So far this year, employment is up 2.1 percent through June, a healthy sign. Services led the way with a gain of 1,300 jobs, mostly in trade, transportation and financial activities. The unemployment rate increased to 5.5 percent in June, up from the 5.1 percent in May but well below the 6.7 percent posted in June 2003.

Olympia: A year after the Tumwater Brewery closed, labor-market conditions in the Olympia area look better than expected, with an overall gain of 600 jobs. Services added 100 jobs as employment in the food and restaurant business continued to grow. Roughly 50 new establishments have been added in the Thurston County area in the past year.

The increase in the unemployment rate, from 4.6 percent in May to 4.8 percent in June, is generally typical for this time of year. One sign of an improving economy: Thurston County outperformed the state during the first quarter with taxable retail sales increasing 8.4 percent.
 

Tri-Cities: Another strong year for the Richland-Kennewick-Pasco area with the economy adding 900 jobs since June 2003. Beyond the job growth, a more telling statistic is a jump in population for Franklin County: It leads the state with a gain of 6.3 percent over the 12 months from June 2003. The influx of people has made construction and home building good businesses in the region.

The Hanford Vitrification plant, the Department of Energy program for low-level nuclear waste, added roughly 100 construction workers and was ahead of last year by nearly 400. Other areas of Hanford held steady over the month or added workers.

Farm employment is an important part of the Tri-Cities economy. Farmworkers increased from 11,900 in May to 18,000 for June, a few hundred more than the 17,600 farmworkers in June 2003. When farm and nonfarm employment are combined, total employment in the Tri-Cities hit a record 107,400 for June.

Spokane : The Inland Empire economy held its own for the month of June with a 900-job increase in its nonagricultural employment. Spokane County's June unemployment rate remained unchanged from May at 5.1 percent. The number of people seeking jobs was estimated at 11,400, about 3,000 fewer job seekers compared with a year ago.

The economic picture is looking bright for Spokane, despite the ebb and flow it has experienced the past year. Over-the-year changes in the Spokane County job market showed an increase of 2,900 jobs in its total nonagricultural employment, with big increases in services and in the health-care industry.

Yakima : The number of nonagricultural jobs increased by 1,300 workers across Yakima County in June compared with May, with most major industries seeing employment levels stabilize or rise over the month.

Over-the-year changes in the Yakima County job market were a little more subdued. In June, local nonagricultural employers provided only 200 more jobs than in the same month one year ago. That's a marginal 0.3 percent in annual growth in Yakima County vs. a 2 percent rate for the state as a whole.

Local harvests have an impact on employment levels. For example, the wholesale trade sector declined by 200 jobs, primarily because employment in Yakima County's fresh-fruit packing houses was not as plentiful as during the bumper cherry harvest of 2003.

Stephen H. Dunphy's phone: 206-464-2365. Fax: 206-382-8879. E-mail: sdunphy@seattletimes.com.