By Rachel Pritchett
The loss of 500 government jobs in Kitsap County in June failed to have much impact on the unemployment rate, which stood at 7.5 percent in June, down from 7.6 percent in May.
Most of those lost jobs were from schools letting out for the summer and staffers heading home, according to Elizabeth Court, economist with the state Department of Employment Security.
Helping to offset the summer loss was the gain of 400 jobs in the private sector at the same time. Those gains appeared to be mostly seasonal, as well. Of the 400 jobs, 100 were in construction, and many more were in tourism-related occupations. One hundred were in retail.
Those changes put the number of jobs in Kitsap County at 84,300, a hundred fewer than in May.
The June unemployment rate in Mason in June was 10.5 percent. In Jefferson it was 9.5 percent. Statewide, the rate stood at 8.3 percent, slightly higher than the national rate of 8.2 percent.
