We've got the July employment report for Okanogan County, and just as the reports for Chelan and Douglas counties have been as of late, it's a mixed bag of results. Regional Labor Economist Don Meseck:
But when you ask what caused the jobless number to be so low, that where Meseck says things get interesting:
Meaning remote workers. The civilian labor force numbers in July were essentially flat from a year ago, but Meseck has done a little digging and has noticed a disturbing trend:
Total non-farm employment for July in Okanogan County was down 300 jobs from July last year; Leisure and Hospitality employment was down almost 12 percent from a year ago, and manufacturing jobs were down 18-point-two percent, although Meseck says that may be due to a recategorization of jobs that might change in a future report.
By the way, the 3-point-7 jobless figure was up two tenths of a percent from June's 3-point-five percent.