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Vantage to Pomona Heights Chapter 3 230 kV Transmission Line Project FEIS Affected Environment Page 3-225 FIGURE 3.9-3 HISTORICAL UNEMPLOYED LABOR FORCE, PROJECT STUDY AREA COUNTIES, 2006 – JULY 2015 Source: WESD 2015a Employment by Industry As shown in Table 3.9-5, the Project study area economy relies on agriculture to a much greater extent than the state as a whole; aside from the much smaller forestry, fisheries, and related sectors, farming is the only economic sector with substantial exports within any of the Project study area counties. The proportions of wage and salary employment represented by the farming sector were 7.1, and 13.5 percent, respectively, for Kittitas and Yakima counties in 2013 (Grant County data not available), compared to the statewide average of 2.1 percent (BEA 2014a). In the past, the Grant County economy has been reliant on export income almost solely from agriculture, with some contribution by tourism-related sectors. It is assumed that this is still the case with government employment remaining high; however, the data available for 2013 did not include employment for the agricultural or forestry sectors (BEA 2014a). Employment data are shown in Table 3.9-5. Total employment in Yakima County grew the most slowly of the three Project study area counties from 2001 to 2013 (0.9 percent average annual growth rate, compared to 1.5 percent in both Kittitas and Grant counties) and was the only Project study area county to have lower employment growth than the 1.1 percent statewide growth rate. Yakima County employment is nearly as concentrated in the farming sector as in Grant County, although health care and social assistance, transportation and warehousing, and utilities employment are also somewhat high, compared to the state of Washington as a whole. The county's largest-employment sectors in 2009 were government (17,789 jobs), farming (16,909 jobs), health care and social services (17,299 jobs), and retail trade (12,686 jobs; BEA 2014a). 0 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 JanJulyJanJulyJanJulyJanJulyJanJulyJanJulyJanJulyJanJulyJanJulyJanJuly2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Yakima Kittitas Grant