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The Tri-Cities added 3,030 jobs in February over a year ago, but the unemployment rate ticked up slightly over a month earlier, according to the state Employment Security Department.
Total employment for the combined Tri-Cities market was 118,320 for February, which was down 90 jobs from the month before. The reported unemployment rate for February was 8.9 percent, up a tenth of a point from the month before.
The year over year increase in jobs was 2.6 percent. The state also reported Tuesday that 11,630 people were unemployed in the Tri-Cities, which was an increase of 150 from the month before.
Separately, Benton County had an unemployment rate of 8.3 percent, with 85,760 people working, while Franklin County had a 10.6 percent unemployment rate, and 32,560 people working.
Statewide, the unemployment rate for February increased slightly to 9.5 percent and the state lost about 8,300 jobs, officials said.
The dip in jobs came a month after the state saw its first job gains in more than a year in January, when the unemployment rate was 9.3 percent.
"We took a couple steps forward in January and one step back in February," Employment Security Commissioner Karen Lee said in a prepared statement. "The path into the recession was steep but, as we're seeing, the climb back out will be more gradual."
In the Tri-Cities, Dean Schau, regional labor economist, said job increases were in manufacturing, retail trade, Hanford, health care and state government.
The gain in state government was mostly divided by the two colleges, Columbia Basin College and Washington State University Tri-Cities, "which are booming," Schau said. "Plus other places' losses are our gains. For example, they're closing down some prisons elsewhere and moving the prisoners to Coyote Ridge (Correction Center)."
While employment at area food processors held steady over the month, Schau said "the industry and other areas of manufacturing -- we make wheelchairs, load fuel rods and make other medical equipment -- added 500 jobs since February of last year."
Federal stimulus money has helped the job market, Schau said. "Again, most of the stimulus money into the state ended up at Hanford."
Farm employment rose seasonally, going from 8,380 in January to 8,740 in February. That was up 210 workers over 2009 figures and up 520 over 2008.
"We'll take what we can get. It's better than a good poke in the eye," Schau said.
Statewide, more than 365,600 people were unemployed and looking for work last month, and more than 292,000 people received unemployment benefits.
Washington's unemployment rate has remained above 9 percent for seven consecutive months, and the state had 91,700 fewer jobs last month than in February 2009, a 3.2 percent decrease. Nationally, employment declined by 2.5 percent over the past year. The national unemployment rate for February was 9.7 percent.
Construction had the biggest drop, losing 3,200 jobs last month after having added 2,700 in January. Other industries that saw job losses in February were: professional and business services, down 2,100; education and health services, down 1,200; government, manufacturing, aerospace product and parts manufacturing, each down 900; and transportation, warehousing and utilities, down 500. Information lost 300 jobs, leisure and hospitality lost 200 and other services were down 100.
Some industries did see job gains. Retail trade, which gained 3,000 jobs in January, added another 400 jobs last month. Financial industries added 400 jobs in February and mining and logging was up 300.
The highest unemployment rate in the state in February was 17.5 percent in Ferry County in the northeast. Whitman County in the east had the lowest mark at 6.8 percent. The largest county, King, was at 8.7 percent.
