By Pratik Joshi, Herald staff writer
Job growth in the Tri-Cities is grabbing national attention.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says the Tri-Cities is fifth in the nation among metropolitan areas for the greatest percentage of growth in nonfarm jobs over a year.
Tri-City jobs climbed 4.3 percent since last April.
Leading the nation was Pascagoula, Miss., with a jump of more than 4.8 percent, followed by about 4.7 percent in Grand Junction, Colo., 4.6 percent in Coeur d'Alene and 4.4 percent in Odessa, Texas.
"It projects a very positive image for the community," said Carl Adrian, president and CEO of Tri-City Development Council. Given the amount of ongoing activities in the community, it's hardly surprising news, he said.
But it'll make companies and investors take notice of the Tri-Cities, Adrian said.
"It's nice to be recognized nationally," said Dean Schau, regional labor economist with the state Department of Employment Security.
The Tri-City economy goes through numerous ups and downs, but eventually manages to outperform the state, Schau said. It has been in high gear since 2004, he added.
Growth of the agriculture industry and continued federal funding for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Hanford clean up have helped create and sustain jobs in several sectors of the economy including housing and retail, he said.
The number of nonfarm jobs in the Tri-Cities increased from 82,000 in 1997 to 102,000 in 2007, Schau said, adding that the area has outperformed Yakima, Wenatchee and even Spokane in terms of growth.
He particularly credits TRIDEC and the Tri-City ports for bringing various new businesses to town and Columbia Basin College and Washington State University Tri-Cities for taking care of the many needs of the new enterprises.
And while the share of Hanford jobs in the total payroll dropped from one-fourth to one-sixth in the last decade, the agriculture payroll increased from $150 million in 2004 to $200 million in 2007, he said.
Schau said a lot of outsiders also have discovered the area as a good place to relocate to, which further boosted the economy.
The presence of a bilingual community in the area also helped attract new businesses to set up shop in the Tri-Cities and support job growth, Schau said.
Nationwide, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said of the 310 metropolitan areas reporting nonfarm job information last month, 218 saw job increases, 87 reported decreases and five had no changes.
The largest over-the-year gain in total jobs was 71,100 in the Houston, Texas, area, 66,800 in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, 57,600 in New York-northern New Jersey-Long Island and 33,800 in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue.