Beaver County--Beaver County's economy appears in great shape with a year-to-year gain of 5.7 percent and almost 120 new jobs in June 2011. However, remember that a large share of these additional jobs are related to wind farm construction and are therefore temporary. While manufacturing and leisure/hospitality services also added to the county's employment base, most industries showed some level of job loss. In particular, government and retail trade took notable job hits. Click here for Beaver County's second quarter data.
Garfield County-- After a surge of new employment in 2010, Garfield County now shows a slight employment contraction. Overall, payrolls declined by about 30 jobs and 1.2 percent between June 2010 and June 2011. Two industries take the blame for most of the job loss--construction and information. On the other hand, Garfield County's bread-and-butter industries--retail trade and leisure/hospitality services both showed significant job gains. Click here for Garfield County's second quarter data.
Iron County--After generating its first job growth in more than two years in the first quarter of 2011, Iron County back-tracked to job loss in the second quarter. Between June 2010 and June 2011, Iron County showed a net loss of 40 jobs. That represents a decline of only 0.3 percent. However, the county's current performance suggests that it hasn't found its way to a solid economic footing yet. The primary source of job losses continues to be the construction industry. Nevertheless, construction had some significant employment-loss partners--retail trade, financial activities and leisure/hospitality services. On the positive side, mining, manufacturing, wholesale trade, and professional/business services produced some noticeable employment gains. Click here for Iron County's second quarter data.
Kane County--Despite early employment expansion in 2010, Kane County has yet to settle into a sustained pattern of job growth. In late 2010 and early 2011, employment dropped dramatically. Fortunately, the county is once again showing job growth. With the addition of more than 40 net new jobs, the county registered year-to-year job gains of 1.2 percent in June 2011. However, all industries didn't share in this employment improvement. Financial activities and private education/health/social services generated notable job losses which were more than offset by employment additions in leisure/hospitality services, other services, and government. Click here for Kane County's second quarter data.
Washington County--If slow and steady wins the race, Washington County should be in fine shape economically by 2012. Now in its second quarter of job expansion, the county's labor market situation continues to slowly improve. Between June 2010 and June 2011, the county generated a net addition of roughly 640 new jobs for a growth rate of 1.4 percent. Most industries have moved over into the "black" side of the job-accounting column. Those contributing significant numbers of new jobs include manufacturing, transportation, private education/health/social services, leisure/hospitality services, and other services. Construction did slip back to show a few job losses in June 2011. However, the most notable industry declines occurred in professional/business services (which includes temp agencies).
In addition to the new jobs data, I've recently updated the county Economic Snapshots to include new unemployment, construction, sales, and claims data. You can find the links by clicking here.
