May 18, 2021 10:30 a.m.
Unemployment remained at 6 percent in Oregon for April, but hiring has slowed.
A report from the Oregon State Employment Department said the rate declined slightly in January, February and March, before holding steady last month. The report said throughout the middle and end of 2020, Oregon’s unemployment rate dropped slightly, and is now down considerably from its recent high point of 13.2 percent in April 2020.
Gail Krumenauer, State Employment Economist with the Oregon Employment Department, said although Oregon’s unemployment rate hit a stand-still in April, underlying labor force dynamics continue shifting. Krumenauer said April marked the first month since the pandemic recession started that those experiencing permanent job losses were the largest group of laid off Oregonians. She said that long-term unemployment has reached its highest point in nine years.
The report said in Oregon, hiring slowed as nonfarm payroll employment grew by 2,200 in April, following monthly gains averaging 14,000 in the prior three months. Monthly gains were concentrated in government which added 2,300 jobs, and leisure and hospitality where 2,000 jobs were added. Monthly declines were the largest in manufacturing which lost 900 jobs, and the transportation, warehousing and utilities, and retail trade categories, which each lost 800 jobs.
In April, Oregon’s nonfarm payroll employment totaled 1,855,600, a drop of 117,400 jobs, or 6 percent from the pre-recession peak in February of 2020. Oregon’s employment dropped to a low of 1,687,500 jobs by April of 2020. Since then, Oregon has recovered 168,100 jobs, or 59 percent of the jobs lost between February and April of 2020.
The report said employment totals for recent months were revised upward, indicating somewhat higher job totals in Oregon in late 2020 and early this year. Total nonfarm employment was revised upward by approximately 13,000 jobs per month for the period between December 2020 and through March 2021. Upward revisions were most pronounced in leisure and hospitality which gained 6,000 jobs, healthcare and social assistance which added 3,000 jobs and retail trade which gained 1,900 jobs. The gains were partially offset by downward revisions that were most pronounced in professional and business services, which lost 2,000 jobs.
The U.S. unemployment rate rose to 6.1 percent in April, up slightly from 6.0 percent in March.