OPB News · Clark County Unemployment At 13.7 Percent, Washington's Worst

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Clark County Unemployment At 13.7 Percent, Washington's Worst

BY APRIL BAER

Portland, OR November 17, 2009 2:42 p.m.

Washington's latest jobless numbers show the Vancouver metro area with the state's worst unemployment rate -- 13.7 percent. April Baer reports.

Clark County's economy is closely tied to the fortunes of the rest of the Portland Metro area.

About a third of the county's residents cross the Columbia to work.

Scott Bailey is an economist with Washington's Employment Security Department. He says the housing market crash continues to take a heavy toll.

Scott Bailey: "It's hit bottom. That's true nationally, pretty much all over. It's not like we're going to see a drop in the number of homes built, it's not going up anytime soon, we're just overbuilt."

Vancouver's unemployment rate will be adjusted in a month.

But Bailey says while the revised number may be slightly lower, Clark County will remain in worse shape than Washington State as a whole, or the Portland metro area, which experienced 10.9 percent unemployment in September.