BELLINGHAM, Wash. — A new report from USA Today looked at cities and metro areas with the best job growth percentage and found Bellingham to be in the top 20.
The Bellingham metro area is one of four in Washington to make the list.
With a five-year employment increase of nearly 17%, which was more than double the national average, Bellingham came in 20th place.
Government and manufacturing saw the biggest job increases, with an addition of 1,900 jobs in the government sector.
Despite job growth, the unemployment rates in the four Washington areas on the list, including Wenatchee, Olympia-Tumwater, and Kennewick-Richland, were all well above 4%, almost double most of the other cities to make the list.