June 17, 2020 3:25 a.m.
Although Oregon experienced job gains due to the limited resumption of economic activity in May, over the past three months of the COVID-19 pandemic, job losses have totaled 243,500.
That’s the word from Anna Johnson, Senior Economic Analyst with the Oregon Employment Department. Johnson said “historically this loss is unprecedented and currently thousands of Oregonians are still suffering the economic realities of being unemployed”.
New data from the OED said Oregon’s unemployment rate declined to 14.2 percent in May, down from 14.9 percent, as revised, in April. Meanwhile the total U.S. unemployment rate has dropped to 13.3 percent in May from 14.7 percent in April. Oregon’s unemployment rate was the state’s highest rate since comparable records began in 1976.
Oregon total nonfarm payroll rose by 22,500 jobs in May, following a loss of nearly 253,000 jobs in April. Over-the-month job gains in May were largest in leisure and hospitality which added 15,900 jobs. Health care and social assistance added 8,400 jobs, construction gained 5,600 jobs and retail trade added 3,200 jobs. Those gains were countered by substantial monthly losses in manufacturing, where 4,900 jobs were lost, and government, which lost 9,900 jobs.
An OED release said during May, statewide and county-specific guidelines for reopening fostered increases in customer demand within leisure and hospitality. Full-service restaurants added back 8,500 jobs, following steep job cuts in the prior two months. The industry employed 29,900 in May, down more than half from the its year -ago total of 72,700 jobs. Limited-service eating places, which includes fast food establishments, saw its employment rebound by 5,400 in May to reach a total of 49,600. That was still nearly a third below its year-ago headcount of 71,700. Accommodation, which includes hotels and motels, added 1,600 jobs in May, but is still below half of its employment level of 26,500, reached in May of 2019.
As some restrictions were lifted on elective and routine medical procedures, ambulatory care services responded with a gain of 8,300 jobs. Totaling 86,900 jobs in May, the industry was still 7,300 jobs below its May 2019 total.
On the down side, durable goods manufacturing cut 6,300 jobs in May. The portion of government with a big job change in May was local government education, which dealt with pandemic-induced school closures, resulting in job cuts totaling 8,300.