Pacific County economy down 3% in 2023

Published 2:24 pm Sunday, June 23, 2024

LONG BEACH — Pacific County businesses totaled $448.74 million in sales in 2023, about 3% less than the $461.83 recorded in 2022, according to an analysis of data recently released by the Washington Department of Revenue.

Based on detailed tax reporting to DOR, annual sales summaries are among the most reliable backward looks at how the state’s local economies perform. DOR’s numbers are not adjusted for inflation.

Since 2019 — the last full year before the covid pandemic scrambled business expectations — Pacific County’s economy has grown by about 37%, based on the broad outlines of DOR reports. However, roughly half that is attributable to price inflation.

The decline between 2023 and 2022 was largely due to two factors.

• Retail trade of the kind consisting of “Main Street”-type sales directly to consumers declined to about $157.5 million in 2023 from $163.9 million in 2022, or almost 4%.

• Overnight lodging in motels, timeshares, RV parks and other accommodations declined to $31.1 million in 2023 from $36.9 million in 2022, a drop of nearly 16%.

In contrast to the weak lodging result, in 2023 eating and drinking establishments enjoyed a banner year, racking up $47.1 million in receipts compared to $36.1 million, an increase of around 30.5%.

The combined totals for lodging and eating-drinking places — an indication of the strength of the important tourism industry — show unsteady but notable increases in recent years. The 2019 tally was $56 million, declining in 2020 to $50.6 million due to pandemic shutdowns, before surging in 2021 to $74.3 million, declining slightly in 2022 to $73 million, and then in 2023 reaching $78.2 million.

Construction businesses of various kinds saw steady work in 2023, with a total of $98.6 million compared to $98.1 million the year before. Of these totals, buildings accounted for $45.8 million last year and $44.7 million the year before. These figures outshine the pre-pandemic totals of $72 million overall and $31.1 million for buildings.