Oct. 18--Whew, glad that's behind us!

Clark County's third quarter was mostly more bad news for a local economy already dealing with the highest unemployment rate in Washington state and bank foreclosures well above state averages. News in September that 800 county residents are running out of regular unemployment benefits a month makes for plenty to worry about.

But thanks to a first-time home buyers' tax credit, the federal "cash for clunkers" car-buying program in August and improved computer chip sales, the three months from July through September were not a complete bust.

Home sales actually were higher last quarter than the same period in 2008, giving those in the real estate business a chance to pay a few bills. First-time buyers gobbled up houses in the lower price range near $200,000 and boosted sales of new and preowned homes to 1,648 during the quarter, an 11.6 percent increase from last year.

The county's median home sale price, however, at $215,000 remained below last year and home building was stuck in the doldrums as builders waited for the inventory of homes for sale to clear.

Portland economist Bill Conerly, in his most recent Businomics Newsletter, saw a slight improvement in home prices in Washington and Oregon and tentative improvements in the region's job market. Conerly sees employment in the two states in "mild" recovery that may not take hold until mid-2010.

Meanwhile, retailers struggled to adjust operating costs against depressed sales as Clark County consumers continued to hold back on spending. Estimates have store-only sales in the county down 10 percent from 2008.

Depressed markets allowed some tenants to renegotiate leases as much as 30 percent below prior years.

Good news for the quarter showed up on another front: computer semiconductor manufacturing.

While still well below last year's levels, global chip sales have been slowly recovering from the worst slump of the past 20 years as sales improve for personal computers, cell phones and other electronic devices. Cargo shipments through Portland International Airport showed tonnage off more than 26 percent from 2008. In the third quarter shipments were down 19.6 percent. Chips made by WaferTech and Linear Technology in Camas and Intel in Oregon are typically shipped by air. Global chip sales as reported by an industry association were down 25 percent in the prior quarter compared to 16.9 percent in the third quarter.

Stimulus money to public and private groups, hospital and library construction projects and the county's effort to recruit renewable energy businesses suggest that the county is beginning to find opportunities for job creation in the midst of what has been a difficult quarter and a challenging year.

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