Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
LINCOLN COUNTY – The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected the economy statewide, but Lincoln County hasn’t been hit as hard as most other counties. The Employment Security Department (ESD)’s monthly report shows that Lincoln County’s unemployment rate decreased from 9.9 percent in May to 6.7 percent in June.
Unemployment went down statewide in the same time span, from 15.1 percent to 9.7 percent.
The recorded total of those unemployed in Lincoln County was 293 in June, a decrease from 447 in May.
The only counties with a lower unemployment rate are Adams, Asotin, Walla Walla and Whitman.
One reason for Lincoln County’s low unemployment is the migration rate, according to ESD regional economist Doug Tweedy.
“You always have a lower unemployment rate when you have a community that sees a lot of migration of their workers out,” Tweedy said. “A lot of the residents in Lincoln County work in Spokane County, so that reduces the labor force. When we count labor force, we count residents.”
Developing jobs at the Amazon Fulfillment Center and opportunities at Fairchild Air Force Base, both of which are on the West Plains and near Lincoln County, are also contributing factors to low unemployment, Tweedy said.
Lincoln County unemployment rates have averaged around 5 percent over the last four years, according to Tweedy and Barney Brockwell, lead supervisor for Colville’s Rural Resources Workforce department, which serves Lincoln, Ferry, Stevens and Pend Orielle counties.
Last year, Lincoln County’s June unemployment rate was 4.7 percent. Usually, June is one of the lowest months for unemployment in the county, due to agriculture going into harvest.
“Young adults going back to work locally (contributes),” Tweedy said.
Lincoln County’s June 2020 unemployment rate of 6.7 percent is very close to the winter month average of 6.9 percent, so the number is still higher than normal for the current season, Tweedy noted.
Unemployment claims decrease
While unemployment went down in Lincoln County from May to June, the civilian labor force decreased from 4,509 to 4,392. Tweedy said a common reason for civilian labor force decreasing is when older people move out of county.
“That’s been a trend for rural counties, people moving out as they get older,” Tweedy said. “Lincoln County has one of the highest average ages of any county in the state … that reduces the labor force.”
Lincoln County initial unemployment claims totaled 17 between July 12 and July 18, a decrease from 25 the previous two weeks, according to ESD data.
The county currently has 169 continued unemployment claims, according to ESD data. The most common occupational groups among these claims are food prep and serving (25), office and administration (23), management (18) and construction and extraction (17).
While food prep and serving have topped the list for layoffs, grocery retail business has improved, Tweedy noted.
“We have to eat,” he remarked.
Busy time for Rural Resources workforce department
Unemployment rates dropping are encouraging for the local economy, but times still aren’t as rosy as they have been in previous years. Brockwell said during the pandemic, his Colville workforce department fielded “well over 100,000” unemployment calls per week.
“The demand is huge,” Brockwell said.
A “normal” week ranges between 6,000-10,000, Brockwell noted. Fortunately, the number of weekly calls is beginning to decline, he added.
“People are desperate to get back to work,” Brockwell said. “(They) have bills to pay and need to get food on their table and keep a roof over their heads.”
Brockwell said the department has been fielding calls from all over the state, not just Northeastern Washington because they’re one of the few state workforce departments that had people regularly manning the phones.
“We’ve been getting phone calls from people on the west side of the state,” Brockwell said. “A lot of the offices are just letting (phones) go to voicemail and responding as they’re able. We were in a little bit of a unique situation that we have someone still answering the phone and returning calls when people leave messages.”
He added that it’s been difficult to see the economic hardships people throughout the region and state have faced in recent months.
“It was gut-wrenching and heartbreaking,” Brockwell said. “But that being said, the majority of the people that filed their claims and needed help got it in a pretty darn quick manner.”
July 25 marked the end of a period where people on unemployment were paid an additional $600 by the states as part of the Corona Aid, Relief and Economic Security act. Both Brockwell and Tweedy said they expect “things to change” in their respective departments as a result.
“We are expecting a change,” Brockwell said. “We honestly don’t know what that will look like but I suspect we’ll see people a little more desperate and (with) even more sense of urgency to find work.”
Tweedy noted that he foresees claims will drop as people are more incentivized to go back to work as a result of the $600 federal relief payment…unless the feds come up with another program.
“Workers will have the choice without the $600, and we don’t know that there won’t be something to come in after that,” Tweedy said. “Congress is still deciding. If that benefit goes away ...then the choice will be either (avoid) the virus or go back to work.”
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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