Market News

Employment growth in Washington State continues to slow as it moves closer to full employment. The state added 79,600 jobs between August 2016 and August 2017, and I still predict that we will see an additional 70,000 jobs by the end of the year. Eastern Washington has seen a pickup in employment, with 15,307 jobs added over the past 12 months.

Colorado added 45,800 non-agricultural jobs over the past 12 months, a growth rate of 1.8%. Within the metropolitan market areas included in this report, annual employment growth was seen in all areas other than Grand Junction (where employment was stable) with substantial growth seen in Fort Collins (4.6%) and Greeley (3.5%).

The counties covered by this report—Los Angeles, San Diego, San Bernardino, Orange, and Riverside—added 108,500 new jobs between August 2016 and August 2017. As a result, the unemployment rate dropped from 5.5% to 5.3%. As noted in last quarter’s report, employment growth in the Southern California market continues to taper, but the economy is still expanding and this will certainly continue.

Employment in the Las Vegas metropolitan area continues to moderate from the substantial growth of the past few years, but the region still experienced impressive annual employment growth of 3%. The market has added 28,400 new jobs over the past 12 months. With this growth in employment, the unemployment rate came in at 5.2%.