OLYMPIA, Wash. - Job vacancies in Washington grew by about 35 percent from last
spring to the fall of 2012, and a quarter of the vacancies were new jobs,
according to a new report from the Washington State Employment Security
Department.
The department surveyed employers in the spring and fall last year to find
out how many vacancies they had, and how many of those vacancies were new
positions. The surveys also asked companies how many external hires they
made from January through March and from June through August.
According to the 2012 surveys, vacancies increased by about 18,500 openings
between spring and fall, reaching an estimated total of 70,434 in the fall.
About one-third of the increase occurred in the agricultural industry, which was
reaching its peak seasonal hiring when the fall survey was taken.
"Although seasonal hiring accounts for a large portion of the increased
vacancies, it was encouraging that more than two-thirds of the vacancies were
for permanent jobs," said Cynthia Forland, research director for Employment
Security.
The three industries with the most vacancies in the fall were healthcare
and social assistance; agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting; and
manufacturing. The occupations with the most available openings were
farmworkers, retail salespeople and food processing.
In addition to vacancies, employers reported more than 190,000 external
hires during the June through August time period, about 72,453 more than the
first quarter of the year. More than 18 percent of the summer hires were
farmworkers, followed by retail salespeople and cashiers.
On average, it took employers 19 days to fill their vacancies, ranging from
about 10 days for vacancies in the agriculture and food-services industries to
37 days to fill vacancies in the information industry.
Statewide, the average hourly starting wage across all industries and
occupations was $13.48.
The full report includes additional details about the education and
training that employers were looking for, as well as comparisons between
industries, occupations and geographic areas of the state.
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