May saw Okanogan County experience the highest unemployment rate since the state started keeping electronic records. | Pixabay
May saw Okanogan County experience the highest unemployment rate since the state started keeping electronic records. | Pixabay
Okanogan County recorded the highest unemployment rate in May since the state started keeping electronic records in 1990, according to Don Meseck, a regional labor economist with the state Employment Security Department (ESD).
May’s unemployment rate was 13.6%, more than double the rate of the same month a year earlier.
It improved in June, dropping to 9.4%, Methow Valley News reported.
Jobs are returning to the area as tourists are visiting. But restaurants are still limited to 50% capacity.
After the statewide stay-at-home order, the county lost nearly 69% of leisure and hospitality jobs in May. That includes hotels, restaurants and golf courses. Okanogan County was hit harder than the state as a whole, which lost about 45.5% of jobs during the shutdown, Methow Valley News reported.
A concern now is whether the $600 a week federal unemployment benefit will be extended. It expired last week and Congress is debating whether to renew it.
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