We’re not number one any more — Harbor jobless rate holds steady in December

We’re no longer number one.

Grays Harbor’s unemployment rate held steady at 10.6 percent in December, and after spending much of 2014 with the highest jobless rate in the state, the county fell to the eighth highest in December.

In Pacific County, the unemployment rate fell by .1 percent over November, keeping it below 10 percent at 9.8.

The list of top 10 jobless rates was dominated by Eastern Washington counties in December, a shift from Southwest Washington’s usual showing. Though Grays Harbor County remained in the top 10, Pacific County fell off of the unenviable list. Grays Harbor was one of only two Southwest Washington counties with double-digit unemployment in December, the other being Lewis County.

Franklin County in the southeast corner of the state registered the highest unemployment rate at 11.3 percent, followed by Columbia County in the same region at 11.1 percent. Rounding out the 10 highest rates in the state were the trio of northeast corner counties — Ferry, Stevens and Pend Oreille — tied for the third-highest rate at 10.9, followed by Yakima (10.8), Lewis (10.7), Grays Harbor and Grant (both at 10.6) and Adams county (10.5).