January 22, 2020 10:20 a.m.
Oregon’s unemployment rate has dropped again and may be the lowest ever.
Information from the Oregon Employment Department said in December that rate went down to 3.7 percent, falling from 3.9 percent in November. Nick Beleiciks, Systems and Economic Analysis manager at the Oregon Employment Department said “the latest estimates suggest there are fewer unemployed Oregonians now than at any point since 1976, when comparable records begin”. He said that is especially striking since Oregon’s labor force is twice as large as it was 44 years ago.
In December, many of Oregon’s workforce metrics set records, indicating an increasingly tight labor market. The number of people that were unemployed for less than half a year, dropped to the lowest level in at least 18 years. The number of people unemployed due to a layoff also dropped to the lowest level in the past two decades. The department release said the broadest measure of labor underutilization, called “U-6”, came in at the lowest on records dating back nearly two decades. That measure includes the unemployed, plus those who want a full-time job, but were working part-time due to the economy.
Total nonfarm payroll employment grew by 800 jobs in December, following a gain of 3,800 jobs, as revised, in November. December gains were the strongest in leisure and hospitality which added 2,000 jobs. In addition, several industries added between 300 and 500 jobs. Meanwhile, two industries declined by more than 500 jobs: health care and social assistance shed 900 jobs while professional and business services lost 1,600 jobs.
Oregon’s over-the-year job growth of 1.4 percent equaled the U.S. job growth, also at 1.4 percent. Most of Oregon’s major industries expanded between one and three percent since December of 2018.