UI report: Port tops area employment

Economists’ report says workers have nowhere to spend salaries

Firms set up at the Port of Whitman County’s facilities account for almost one-fourth of the private sector economy in southeast Washington, according to a report issued last week by University of Idaho economists.

The report issued by Dr. Stephen Peterson and Stephen Pool found 2,414 people have jobs associated with the port’s sites, almost exclusively being employed in high-tech industries.

However, the report said, a dirth of retail options in the area sends about $170 million a year to markets outside Whitman County.

“You’re cr...