June 16, 2021 3:20 a.m.

Oregon’s unemployment rate was 5.9 percent in May.

An update from the Oregon Employment Department said the rate is the same as the revised rate for April. This was the first time Oregon’s rate was below 6 percent since March of 2020, when the state’s rate was 3.6 percent.

In Oregon, nonfarm payroll employment grew by 6,900 in May, following monthly gains averaging 11,400 in the prior four months. Monthly gains were the largest in private education which added 3,400 jobs, professional and business services which added 2,900 jobs, and in both construction and financial activities which each added 900 jobs. The transportation, warehousing and utilities sector lost 800 jobs.

The release said in May, Oregon’s nonfarm payroll employment totaled 1,864,000 which was a drop of 109,000 jobs, or 5.5 percent from the recession peak in February 2020. Oregon’s employment dropped to a low of 1,687,500 by April of 2020. Since then Oregon has recovered 176,500 jobs or 62 percent of the jobs lost between February and April of 2020.

Leisure and hospitality accounts for the bulk of Oregon’s jobs not recovered since early 2020. It employed 169,600 in May and added only 1,600 jobs in the two most recent months. The industry is still 46,700 jobs below its peak month of February 2020, so it accounts for 43 percent of overall nonfarm payroll jobs lost since Oregon’s pre-recession peak. The release said the restaurants, bars, and hotels that make up accommodation and food services have shown flat hiring trends over the most recent three months.

OED said that local government is another industry that has a long way to go to get back to normal. Employment averaged 207,400 in the past 12 months, compared with an average of 229,000 during the most recent pre-recession year of 2019.

The release said a return to pre-pandemic employment is closer at hand for several major industries that were less impacted by the COVID recession. These industries are within 3 percent of surpassing their pre-recession peak: trade, transportation and utilities, information, construction, and professional and business services.

To get more information about employment programs in Oregon, go to https://unemployment.oregon.gov/