Exclusive | A year later, who is back to work in Tri-Cities and who is not?

A year after the COVID pandemic forced droves of Tri-Citians on unemployment, the community is well on the road to economic recovery.

Jobs in at least one Tri-Cities industry soared during in the past year while some areas continue the slow slog to make up lost ground.

Last April, unemployment surged to about 14 percent in Tri-Cities, as restaurants, stores and schools shut down and travel came to a screeching halt.

Half of Tri-Cities restaurant and food workers had lost their jobs by last May

The restaurant industry continues to struggle but overall the unemployment rate in Benton County rebounded to 5.9% in March and to 7% in Franklin County.

The demand for grocery workers across the state and in Tri-Cities continues to climb, helping offset losses in other industries.

Since last March, 900 jobs were added to grocery store payrolls, said Ajsa Suljic, a regional labor economist for Eastern Washington.

And 500 of those jobs were added between February and March, according to data from the Washington Employment Security Department.

“The momentum of the vaccine, reopening and all the good weather conditions have contributed to influx of jobs,” Suljic said.

She added that the most recent stimulus checks have really propelled retail trade and consumer spending.

“People are spending, they are taking their kids out, going out themselves and enjoying dinner,” Suljic said.

Last March, the retail industry had 13,100 works in Benton and Franklin counties. By last month, there were 14,000.

Grocery pickup service at the Fred Meyer in Richland went from one or two customers an hour to all spots being reserved every hour, a Richland Fred Meyer employee told the Herald.

The Safeway on George Washington Richland also added a Drive Up & Go curbside grocery pickup service last fall.

And Albertsons and Safeway stores recently held a job fair at all locations to fill hundreds of openings throughout central Washington.

“With the COVID-19 vaccination now available and many business reopening, it’s expected that employees who may have joined the Safeway Albertsons team temporarily will be returning to their former jobs,” said Tairsa Worman, public affairs manager. “Summer is also a very busy time at all our store locations, and it’s important that we are fully staffed.”

Making slow gains

However, the additional spending hasn’t been injected into other industries that were hard hit by COVID travel restrictions.

The number of workers in the Tri-Cities leisure and hospitality industries have rebounded a bit from its all time unemployment high last April. There were 9,800 working in the industry in March this year compared to 11,900 in March 2020.

And food services — mostly consisting of restaurants and drinking establishments — also was down by 1,000 workers from a year ago.

Across Washington, the leisure and hospitality industry still had nearly 75,000 fewer people working in the industry than a year ago.

“Looking at recovery at unemployment, it brings us hope,” said Anthony Anton, president of the Washington Hospitality Association. “While were are still down quite a few workers there still are workers who are willing to come back.”

While there was such a significant loss in those areas — employees have been able to get hired in other areas such as supermarkets.

As restrictions are lifted, stores such as Albertsons and Safeway are planning for workers to return to their pre-pandemic positions.

While, Benton and Franklin counties are in Phase 3 with COVID restrictions loosening to 50% capacity for indoor and outdoor dining — there Anton expressed concerns that some regions may return to Phase 2.

This week the Washington state Department of Health will assess whether Benton and Franklin counties are containing the spread of the coronavirus adequately to remain in Phase 3 of reopening, based both on the rate of new COVID hospital admissions and new case rates.

Anton said that he is confident that as long Phase 3 remain in place, that the restaurant and lodging industry will continue to bounce back as summer weather approaches.

This story was originally published May 4, 2021 at 5:00 AM.