Walla Walla and Columbia counties: Year in review 2014

Ajsa Suljic is Employment Security’s regional labor economist for Asotin, Benton, Columbia, Garfield, Franklin and Walla Walla counties.

Walla Walla and Columbia County employers added over 220 jobs from December 2013 to December 2014. The job market in the area started improving in November 2013, which marks 14 months of consecutive job growth in the area. This is evidence that the job market is improving with better business confidence to hire, due to larger demand for business products or services.

The unemployment rate in Walla Walla County decreased to 6.7 percent in December 2014, while the Columbia County unemployment rate increased to 11.1 percent, compared to 9.5 percent in December 2013. The increase in the Columbia County unemployment rate is attributed to more individuals coming back into the labor force, which increased by 70 people over the year.

Washington state “grape power”

Did you know that Washington’s grape production is second only to California?

There are two origins of the state’s grape and wine industry. The earliest history of Washington wine starts with 1825 plantings of the first grape vines in Fort Vancouver, by trade workers from Hudson’s Bay Company. The second origin of started in the 1860s and 1870s, when immigrants from Germany and Italy settled in the Walla Walla area and started larger grape and wine productions.