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Media contact: Jamie Swift, communications manager, 360-902-0904

OLYMPIA – Washington state produced a bumper crop of agricultural jobs in 2009, according to a report released today by the Employment Security Department.

According to the 2009 Agricultural Workforce in Washington State report, employment in agriculture increased 7 percent last year, to 102,530 jobs. Agricultural employment is a combination of seasonal and non-seasonal jobs, but the increase in 2009 was driven almost entirely by seasonal work in orchards. 

“During a tough year for the economy, the agricultural industry was a bright spot,” said Employment Security Commissioner Karen Lee. 

Deep jobs cuts in construction and manufacturing likely increased the pool of workers for agricultural jobs, while crop sizes, crop quality and mild harvest weather increased demand for those workers. 

The mild weather conditions were ideal for pruning activities, increasing demand for workers in apple, cherry and pear orchards. From June through October, average monthly seasonal employment was up 24 percent.

Though the demand for labor was higher, wages were actually down between 4 and 10 percent for apples, cherries and pears. That’s because the supply of seasonal labor increased even more than labor demand, according to the report. 

More work didn’t equate to longer hours. In fact, with so many workers available, the average farm laborer worked about 10 percent fewer hours in 2009. 

Even with the additional work, more farm workers collected unemployment benefits in 2009. According to the report, this is likely due to unemployed workers from other industries taking agricultural jobs and pushing out existing workers. The number of agricultural workers collecting unemployment benefits was 30 percent higher than in 2008 and 40 percent higher than in 2007. 

More than one-quarter of all agricultural jobs were in Yakima County (26.1 percent), followed by the Chelan-Douglas county area (12.9 percent) and the Benton-Franklin county area (11.8 percent).

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Agriculture report: 2009 Agricultural Workforce in Washington State

Broadcast version

Washington produced a bumper crop of agricultural jobs in 2009, according to a new report from the Employment Security Department.

Average monthly agricultural employment was seven percent higher, the result of a huge jump in seasonal work. 

Deep jobs cuts in construction and manufacturing increased the pool of workers for agricultural jobs. At the same time, crop sizes, crop quality and mild harvest weather increased demand for those workers.

One down side:  the abundance of workers enabled apple, cherry and pear growers to lower their wages by up to ten percent.

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