August 17, 2022 10:30 a.m.
Oregon’s unemployment rate held steady at 3.5 percent in July, unchanged from 3.5 percent, as revised, in June.
State Employment Economist Gail Krumenauer said the state’s unemployment rate has tracked very closely with the national rate for the past two years, with both rates declining rapidly from May 2020 through early 2022 as economies recovered. Krumenauer said over the past five months, unemployment rates for the U.S. and Oregon have averaged 3.6 percent, near record lows dating back almost fifty years.
An OED release said the labor market is tight and many people have gotten back to work. Over the past two years, Oregon’s labor participation rate rose rapidly. The share of the population age 16 and older that is either employed or unemployed reached 63.5 percent in July, its highest rate in a decade.
The release said in Oregon, nonfarm payroll employment grew by 4,200 in July, following gains averaging 6,300 jobs in the prior eight months. Monthly gains in July were largest in leisure and hospitality where 1,500 jobs were added. The “other services” category had a gain of 1,400 jobs. Manufacturing and private educational services both grew by 1,300 jobs. Retail trade lost 700 jobs and was the only major industry to shed a substantial number of jobs.
OED said as of July, Oregon has regained 94 percent of the jobs lost at the onset of the pandemic. The U.S. has regained 100 percent. Oregon’s private sector is close to a full jobs recovery, having regained 99 percent of pandemic recession losses. However, Oregon’s government sector has regained only 49 percent of the jobs it lost during the March through June 2020 period.
The release said professional and technical services was one of the fastest growing industries over the past two years. It added 1,900 jobs in July and has grown by 10,400 jobs since February of 2020. Over the past 12 months, architectural and engineering services added 1,700 jobs or 9.4 percent, which was the highest growth rate of the component industries within professional and technical services.
Retail trade has inched downward since late last year. In July, it dropped to 209,000 jobs, which is back to where it was in late 2016. Over the past 12 months, the weakest retail trade sectors were building material and garden supply stores which lost 1,700 jobs and general merchandise stores where 2,400 jobs were lost.
The U.S. unemployment rate was also 3.5 percent in July.