More Kitsap County residents were working in August, and more were looking for work, according to a monthly labor report. But fewer people held jobs with Kitsap employers.
Jobs In Kitsap
It’s typical to see a decline in employment toward the end of the summer as season winds down and young workers head back to college.
The drop off was especially precipitous this year among Kitsap employers, according to Employment Security Department estimates. The agency reported a drop of 1,100 jobs in the county between July and August.
Losses were in both the private and public sectors with the bulk coming from local governments. Employment in Kitsap had been consistently higher this year than in 2012 or 2013, but the falloff in August put job levels even with the previous two years.
Employment/Unemployment
While jobs were scarcer inside the county, more Kitsap residents found work August.
Employment among Kitsap residents rose by an estimated 1,030 in August. The labor force – the number of people employed or actively seeking work – climbed by 1,430, bucking a trend of steady decline. Both are positive signs.
To put this all in perspective, labor force and employment levels still remain much lower than before the recession, with signs of a potential rebound in employment:
Here’s the full area labor report for August:
