Washington Business 2018 AWB Rural Jobs Outlook | Page 6

Workforce
An aging workforce, a lack of a skilled
and trained workers, and the flight of
younger workers from rural areas is
a significant detriment to industries
wanting to grow and locate in rural
Washington. Twenty-eight percent of
rural Washington’s workforce was 55 or
older in 2015, according to the Washington
state Employment Security Department,
compared to just 15 percent in 2000. In
urban areas, 24 percent of the workforce
was 55 or older in 2015, up from 12.2
percent in 2000. The percentage of
unemployed in the state’s rural areas also
lags that of the vibrant urban economies.
Between 2012 and 2016, unemployment
declined by 8.9 percent in urban counties
compared to 7.3 percent in rural counties.
A report from the Georgetown Center on
Education and the Workforce highlights
that after several years of slow growth
following the recent recessi