The Oregonian’s weekly look at the numbers behind the state’s economy. View past installments here.

Oregon’s economy is enjoying one of its strongest stretches in history – and that success is spilling across the Columbia River.

Clark County’s economy has grown tremendously in the years since the Great Recession, with sales activity handily outpacing Washington’s statewide growth amid construction of new housing and offices.

Sales grew at an annual rate of 8.8% from 2010 through 2018, according to data from the Washington State Department of Revenue. The numbers encompass not just retail sales at malls and big box stores but also construction and manufacturing activity.

That makes the data an excellent barometer of overall economic activity – a data point unavailable for Oregon because the state doesn’t have a sales tax and therefore can’t track retail activity.

Total sales in Clark County grew strongly in the early part of the last decade as the county bounded back from the Great Recession. But growth actually picked up several years later, in 2015, with double-digit percentage growth continuing through 2018.

Overall it was a very strong decade economically for Washington, with sales growing at an average rate of 6.0% statewide. Still, Clark County was among the fastest growing counties.

Why? Clark County labor economist Scott Bailey says it has a lot to do with the neighborhood.

“We’re part of (greater) Portland, and Portland’s had a really good run,” Bailey said.

Indeed, the Portland area has enjoyed phenomenal wage and job growth in recent years. And some of that is reaching into Vancouver and the rest of Clark County. (Though Clark County’s jobless rate, 4.7%, is nearly a full point higher than the 3.8% rate in Portland and its Oregon suburbs.)

Long in Portland’s shadow, Vancouver has enjoyed some distinct successes over the past several years. Bailey said corporate offices have been among Clark County’s fastest-growing employment sectors.

Bailey notes that PeaceHealth moved its headquarters from Bellevue to Vancouver, while Banfield Pet Hospital’s headquarters moved across the river from Portland. Meanwhile, Fisher Investments has grown to nearly 1,800 employees in Camas.

That growth could continue. Laser manufacturer nLight Corp., just north of Vancouver, held the region’s first tech IPO in more than a decade in 2018. And HP Inc. has floated plans for a big new corporate campus in east Vancouver.

Meanwhile, Vancouver has finally built the upscale development along its downtown waterfront that had been on the drawing board for decades. Offices, condos, restaurants and wine bars are rapidly moving in – and upending the community’s reputation as a bedroom backwater.

“It’s really filling out,” Bailey said.

-- David Cansler

-- Mike Rogoway | mrogoway@oregonian.com | twitter: @rogoway | 503-294-7699

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