August 19, 2019 3:30 a.m.
Oregon’s unemployment rate was 4.0 percent in July, matching the rate from June, which is the state’s lowest unemployment rate dating back to 1976.
Recent data from the Oregon Employment Department said that rate also tied the rate from May, June and July of last year.
Senior Economic Analyst Gail Krumenauer said in July, Oregon’s total nonfarm payroll employment added 2,400 jobs, following an over-the-month loss of 1,000 jobs, as revised, in June. She said monthly gains were the strongest in professional and business services which added 1,300 jobs. That was followed by health care and social assistance which gained 1,100 jobs, and construction where 800 jobs were added. 2 industrial categories cut more than 1,000 jobs in July. That was leisure and hospitality and government, where 1,100 and 1,300 jobs were lost, respectively.
Krumenauer said newly revised payroll employment figures show that there was minimal growth of only 2,000 jobs between December of 2018 and March of 2019. That was much weaker growth for the first quarter of 2019 than the data originally released. Oregon’s total nonfarm employment for March is now pegged at 1,931,900 jobs.
The new numbers show Oregon’s economy growing moderately for quite some time. Since July 2018, total nonfarm payroll employment was up 29,600 jobs, or 1.6 percent. That means Oregon’s over-the-year job growth has averaged 1.6 percent during the past 16 months.
The United States unemployment rate was 3.7 percent in both June and July of 2019.