Oregon’s jobless rate falls to 11.2% in June; 1/3 of lost jobs have returned
Leisure, hospitality, retail and health care among strongest gains; other sectors struggle
SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Oregon's unemployment rate fell to 11.2 percent last month as the state has now regained nearly one-third of the jobs lost when the COVID-19 pandemic impacts hit, the state Employment Department reported Tuesday.
Oregon’s total non-farm payroll employment rose by 56,600 jobs in June, following a gain of 26,100 jobs in May. Over the past two months, employers added back nearly one-third of the jobs that were cut in March and April, the department said.
Over-the-month job gains in June were largest in leisure and hospitality (+31,400 jobs); retail trade (+6,800); health care and social assistance (+6,200); and other services (+5,700). None of the major industries cut a substantial number of jobs in June.
Several major industries have regained around half the jobs they lost in March and April. Leisure and hospitality added a total of 47,600 jobs in May and June, which was 39 percent of the 121,500 jobs the industry cut during March and April. Health care and social assistance added 15,700 jobs in May and June, recovering 59 percent of the 26,800 jobs it lost the prior two months. Similarly, retail trade bounced back by 11,500 jobs, or 49 percent, in the past two months, from the 23,300 jobs it shed in March and April.
However, many of the larger industries haven’t seen a substantial rebound in the past two months, including professional and business services, which cut 20,200 jobs in March and April, but has only regained 1,900 jobs during May and June.
Faring even worse were the several industries that have shown no net jobs recovery over the past two months. Manufacturing employed 181,000 in June, which was 2,400 jobs below its April total. Also in the past two months, government cut 9,100 jobs between April and June, during which time management of companies and enterprises cut 1,000 jobs and information cut 600 jobs.
Oregon’s unemployment rate dropped to 11.2 percent in June from 14.3 percent, as revised, in May. In June, Oregon’s unemployment rate was very close to the U.S. unemployment rate; the U.S. rate dropped to 11.1 percent in June from 13.3 percent in May.
Next Press Releases
The Oregon Employment Department plans to release the June county and metropolitan area unemployment rates on Tuesday, July 21st, and the next statewide unemployment rate and employment survey data for July on Tuesday, August 18th.
The PDF version of the news release can be found at QualityInfo.org/press-release. To obtain the data in other formats such as in Excel, visit QualityInfo.org, then within the top banner, select Economic Data, then choose LAUS or CES. To request the press release as a Word document, contact the person shown at the top of this press release.
To file a claim for unemployment benefits or get more information about unemployment programs, visit unemployment.oregon.gov.
Equal Opportunity program — auxiliary aids and services available upon request to individuals with disabilities. Contact: (503) 947-1794. For people who are deaf or hard of hearing, call 711 Telecommunications Relay Services.
