Wenatchee Area Unemployment Rate Shows Big Drop from a Year Ago

The Wenatchee metro area jobless rate is much lower than it was a year ago, having dropped about 40 percent over the time period. (7.0 percent in December 2020 to 4.2 percent in December 2021).

The new numbers show the lowest unemployment for the most recent month (December) since the data was first electronically recorded in 1990.

But there are still fewer people working than there were prior to the pandemic two years ago.

State economist Don Meseck says the Wenatchee metro area labor force is now in the "rebuilding mode."

The biggest job gains in the past year by far have been in the Travel and Leisure industry (36.7 percent), followed by Mining, Logging and Construction (10.3 percent) and State Government (10 percent).

The only sector to lose employment was Trade, Transportation, Warehousing and Utilities (1.0 percent)

From Meseck:

In December 2021, total nonfarm employment in the Wenatchee Metropolitan Statistical Area - MSA (Chelan and Douglas counties) tallied 2,600 more jobs than in December 2020, rebounding from 43,100 jobs to 45,700, a 6.0 percent upturn.

However, the local economy has still not recovered all jobs lost because of COVID-19 related layoffs. Specifically, total nonfarm employment in the two-county MSA in December 2021 (45,700 jobs) was 700 jobs and -1.5 percent less than the 46,400 jobs provided in December 2019 (two years ago).