More Kitsap residents were employed and more people were working at jobs inside the county in 2015, according to preliminary year-end numbers released by the Employment Security Department.
Kitsap jobs
An average of 87,600 people worked for employers within the county last year, a 3.7 percent uptick from 2014. It was also a slight increase from Kitsap’s pre-recession high of 87,400, reported in 2006.
Job growth came from both the private and government sectors, which increased employment by 2.7 percent and 5.4 percent respectively.
Here’s a graphical look at job trends in Kitsap:
Employment/unemployment
Overall employment among Kitsap residents remains lower than before the recession, but there were signs of improvement last year.
The labor force – the
total number of people working or seeking work – appeared
to stabilize over the past three years, after declining
through the recession. Kitsap’s labor force averaged 113,580
in 2015.
Average employment rose in 2014 and 2015, reaching 107,200 last year.
An average of 6,382 Kitsap residents were counted as unemployed last year, though the number only included people who were actively seeking work.
The county’s unemployment rate has fallen steadily since 2010, reaching 5.6 percent in 2015. This was partially due to declines in the labor force.
Here’s a graphical look at employment trends in Kitsap:
