By Jennifer L. Drey

It’s a good time to be a job seeker in the Tri-Cities.

The unemployment rate for Benton and Franklin counties hit a record low in September, dropping to 4.1 percent and marking its lowest point in the 28 years kept on record by the state’s Employment Security Department. The figure was down from 4.6 percent in August and from 4.7 percent one year earlier.

“If you are a job seeker, are looking for work and are willing to work, there is a job out there for you,” said Ajsa Suljic, regional labor economist for the state Employment Security Department.

The decrease in unemployment seen between August and September is common for this time of year due to seasonal factors in agriculture and the start of a new school year, which puts educational-services employees back into the labor force after their summer break, Suljic said. This year, however, the rate was further improved by the fact that many job seekers who were unemployed during the summer found there were jobs to be had in September.

Keeping in line with state and national trends of increased job availability, total non-farm employment in Benton and Franklin counties increased by 2,500 jobs from September 2017 to September 2018, demonstrating 2.2 percent growth.

Many industries contributed to the local job growth, with some of the biggest gains one being seen in service industries, construction, and leisure and hospitality, Suljic said.

Specifically, service industries, which encompass a variety of sectors such as trade, transportation and government work, increased the most over the year, adding 1,800 new jobs.

The construction industry followed state and national building trends, adding 700 new jobs over the 12-month period and demonstrating 7.8 percent growth. The leisure and hospitality industry, which includes food services, posted its third-plus year of growth, bringing 600 new jobs over the year, as the area continued to add hotels and meeting spaces.

“Across the board, everything is really hot right now,” said Dustin Ghoreishi, who runs the Kennewick office of Aerotek, a national recruiting company that supports a variety of business sectors including engineering, construction and construction management, industrial and professional services.

The decreasing unemployment rate is leading to a shortage of applicants in some of those areas, most notably engineering and construction management, plus everything that goes along with construction management all the way down to the electricians, Ghoreishi said.

“The war for talent in about every different division we support is real,” he said.

That means more opportunities for candidates to seek out jobs that offer the qualities that are most important to them in their work environment.

“Pay is very important, but in a candidate-driven market, it’s not everything,” Ghoreishi said, adding that upward mobility, career progression, even options such as working from home, are all possibilities worth exploring in this market.

Goodwill Industries of the Columbia has also witnessed an influx of job availability in recent months.

The jobs board at Goodwill of the Columbia Industries’ Employment Connection Center in Pasco boasted more than 88 jobs in early November.

The center placed 65 people in jobs in September.

“The fight for employees is pretty brutal, as there are more openings than people applying,” said CEO Ken Gosney of Goodwill Industries of the Columbia.

People come to the employment center, which has a computer lab and jobs board, to get help with their résumé, brush up on interviewing skills and get help with job placements from employment specialists. The services are free and open to anyone.

The nonprofit’s employment center is on track to place 750 people in jobs and assist about 5,000 by year’s end.

“We focus on jobs that are going to be career jobs,” Gosney said. “All walks of life come through there.”

Of course, not all industries added jobs over the year, and even when times are good, finding employment may require adding skills or seeking out new certifications.

In the area of manufacturing, for example, the number of available jobs in Benton and Franklin counties actually decreased by about 200 jobs over the year. While fluctuations are normal in that industry, automation also is changing the nature of some manufacturing jobs and may require workers to look into transferring their skills or doing some re-training to stay employed in the industry, Suljic said.

Outlets in the local community already are prepared to help with that, she added.

One such resource, WorkSource Columbia Basin, offers no-cost services to job seekers of all professional backgrounds who want help with connections to new opportunities. The company is made up of eight partner organizations and includes a team of employment specialists who work with job seekers to determine their skills, as well as their needs, in an effort to link them with proper training, when necessary, and employment. WorkSource also hosts a variety of events based on local industry needs.

In recent months, WorkSource has consistently seen job openings in government, retail, food processing and agriculture, according to Crystal Bright, operations manager at WorkSource. Health care also remains in high demand in the area.

“There’s definitely more jobs available than job seekers at this time,” Bright said.

Typically, the number of people looking for work coming through the doors of WorkSource will increase toward late November as harvests end and seasonal workers look to fill the winter gap.

One area where they may find jobs to take them through those months is in retail, which typically picks up extra employees for the holiday season.

The level of hiring for those positions is expected to be strong this year, although with the addition of so many retail trade facilities to the area, not all retail hiring in the coming months will be limited to seasonal positions, Suljic said.

And with the local work force down to about 5,300 people, retailers are doing everything they can to attract workers, she added. Many retailers are looking to youth and first-time workers who they hope will be attracted to the extra money and perks, such as store discounts, that come along with retail employment.

In any industry, qualified applicants who have “soft skills” such as punctuality and good grooming should find that employment comes fairly easily right now.

“If you show enthusiasm about work and you show value in everything that you do, you’re going to be the star of the hiring spectrum,” Suljic said.