The Spokane Workforce Council’s (SWC) Business & Industry Analyst Michael McBride carefully analyzes changes and trends within the regional labor market and economy and provides workforce data, trends, and future projections to inform businesses to make great decisions.
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Labor Market Data: October 2022
Preliminary data for Spokane County’s labor market showed record-low unemployment in September at 3.7%. Employment levels have fully returned from the pandemic-caused recession and now exceed pre-pandemic levels locally, in almost every industry. The total labor force in Spokane County, which is the total of those employed and those unemployed searching for work, has only returned to pre-pandemic levels and is facing strong resistance to additional growth.
A number of factors are hampering labor force growth, specifically retirees and the lack of affordable childcare options are having an enormous impact. Nationally, 2022 was the first year that more people turned age 65 than turned age 18, and the gap between the two is anticipated to widen for the rest of the decade. As the Baby Boom generation retires from the labor force, fewer people are entering the labor force, causing enormous tightness for businesses trying to fill open jobs.
Over the course of the pandemic, many local childcare providers were forced to close. The reduction in total available childcare slots in Spokane continues to impact the prime age workforce (25-55), as does the high cost of childcare. While childcare providers struggle to retain workers and pay competitive wages, the costs to childcare consumers have risen to a level that has caused many dual-income households to reduce to one, in order to provide childcare at home. The U.S. Treasury has called the childcare industry in America a market failure, due to the inability of a market equilibrium to be found that satisfies the needs of both consumers and providers. The SWC conducted childcare needs surveys in the Spokane community (n=127) and found that 72% of respondents indicated that a lack of childcare keeps them from working more hours.
As a result of the research, the SWC issued a press release about their plans to develop a childcare initiative to support childcare costs for parents that want to re-enter the workforce and childcare providers that need assistance with hiring and retaining workers. The initiative will be available at the start of 2023 – visit the Resource Center of Spokane County’s website to stay informed with the childcare initiative updates.
