County unemployment dips below 5% in June

Published 12:13 pm Wednesday, July 30, 2025

The unemployment rate in Pacific County sneaked back under 5% last month, according to preliminary data released by the Washington State Employment Department.

The state agency pegged the local jobless rate at 4.9% in June, down from 5.9% in May and from 5.3% over the previous year. It’s the lowest the unemployment rate has been in the county since June 2023, which clocked in at 4%.

The county’s June unemployment rate ranked 36th out of Washington’s 39 counties, behind Grays Harbor County’s 4.7% mark and better than Wahkiakum County’s 5.6% rate, which checked in as the worst of any county in the state. That dubious honor in recent years has almost exclusively gone to Ferry County in the northeast corner of the state, which clocked in at 5.5% in June.

Statewide, the unemployment rate checked in at 4.2%, down slightly from 4.3% in May and from 4.4% last June. Twenty-three counties had a jobless rate below 4%, led by the 2.6% mark seen in San Juan County.

An estimated 6,340 people in Pacific County were employed in nonfarm jobs in June, down 0.2% from May and 0.3% from a year prior. The figures exclude farm workers, private household employees, business owners and those employed by nonprofits.

There were 950 people employed in the county’s large leisure and hospitality industry last month, which is down 8.7% from the 1,040 workers in June 2024. Government jobs — a figure that includes those working for local public school districts — grew from 1,690 to 1,730 year-over-year, an increase of 2.4%.

Manufacturing jobs increased from 670 in June 2024 to 700 last month, an increase of 4.5%. The number of people working in construction increased by 7.1% year-over-year, from 280 to 300.

Jobs in retail trade were up 2.8% year-over-year, increasing from 710 to 730. The number of people working in professional and business services jobs decreased from 390 in June 2024 to 370 last month, a drop of 5.1%.