Clark County’s labor market ‘slowing’

More people worked in Clark County in September than in the same month last year — but only slightly more.

The latest labor report from the Washington Employment Security Department estimated 188,300 people worked nonfarm jobs here in September. That’s up from the 187,800 who worked here in September 2024 and in August 2025.

“Clark County’s labor market continues to show signs of slowing,” said Emily Robertson, regional labor economist for the Washington Employment Security Department.

Employment grew by only 0.3 percent between September 2024 to September 2025, she said. The sluggish report marks the seventh consecutive month that the county’s growth was less than 0.5 percent — “considerably slower than in 2023 or 2024,” Robertson said.

County-level labor data won’t be available for October because of the lengthy federal government shutdown, but November’s report will be released in January.

Initial unemployment claims rose steadily over the past few months, department data shows.

Some industries have been more impacted by the slowing job market, Robertson said. Construction, for instance, is employing fewer people in Clark County than it did in 2024.

Employment for nonresidential construction in the Portland metro area was flat in the first nine months of the year, according to the Mortenson third quarter cost index.

The index, however, said more construction projects were moving forward in the latter part of the year after federal tariffs caused initial uncertainty in the industry.

Professional and business services, a category that includes lawyers and accountants, added positions locally steadily through September.

Private education and health services have been driving job growth here but have been sluggish in recent labor reports. Robertson said they’re areas to watch.

“We’ll have to wait and see if that’s a temporary blip or part of a larger pattern,” she said.