October 22, 2025 3:40 a.m. 

Since the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has suspended all monthly employment and unemployment reports due to the federal government shutdown, the Oregon Employment Department is highlighting data they continue to produce and share.

One such topic is an analysis of federal government jobs.

Regional Economist Brian Rooney said Douglas County had an average of 1,478 federal jobs covered by unemployment benefits during the fourth quarter of 2024. Rooney said that accounted for 3.8 percent of all jobs in the county. The top federal agencies in the county include the Department of Veteran Affairs with 889 positions, the Department of Agriculture with 298 jobs, the U.S. Postal Service with 155 positions and the Department of the Interior with 126 jobs.

OED said Oregon had an average of 29,000 federal government jobs covered by unemployment benefits during the first half of 2025. That accounted for about 1.5 percent of all jobs in the state. The federal government share of all jobs was much higher in some rural counties. The top 10 counties by the share of all jobs in the federal government were rural areas. More than 15 percent of all jobs in Sherman County were in the federal government. The next-largest shares were 9 percent in Grant County and 8 percent in Harney and Lake counties.

Rooney said federal government jobs tend to pay relatively high wages. Looking at annual average wages, jobs on federal government payrolls in Douglas County paid roughly $89,550 in 2024. That was about 66 percent higher than the annual wage for all jobs in Douglas County.

To learn more about federal government jobs in Oregon, go to: www.qualityinfo.org/-/federal-government-jobs-in-oregon