BELLINGHAM, Wash. — A recent KING-5 article says Bellingham has the highest job growth percentage in the country, but Western Washington University professor Hart Hodges said that is “misleading.”
In the story it said Bellingham saw a 5.5% increase in jobs, but Professor Hodges said that number is actually the increase in the labor force, not the number of jobs created.
He said, “If you look at what was the average monthly number in ’17 compared to ’16 the job growth rate is less than 4%.”
Hodges noted that the labor force figures in KING’s story are actually for the entire county, not just Bellingham, and the story uses an old population figure for the city.
The Employment Security Department recently released the employment numbers for November which is what the KING story referenced, but Hodges emphasized that it’s important to take in the full picture rather than focus on one month.
“One particular November can look a lot stronger than the previous November and you don’t want to say ‘that tells the whole story.’ Certainly good news, just want to make sure it’s taken in context,” Hodges said.