Central Oregon sees job losses in December; first downturn since April
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Central Oregon counties posted monthly job losses in December for the first time since April, after a surge in COVID-19 cases this fall and increased public health measures to slow its spread, the Oregon Employment Department reported Tuesday.
The first rise in the jobless rates since last spring echoes the state jobs report issued last week.
Here's the Central Oregon county breakdowns, from Regional Economist Damon Runberg:
Crook County: The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 7.6% in December, up from 7.4% in November. The unemployment rate remains significantly higher than in December 2019, when it was 4.7%.
Crook County posted employment declines in December following seven months of continuous gains from the COVID-19 shock. The county lost 70 jobs in December, on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Despite job losses in December, the employment recovery in Crook County remains one of the strongest in the state, with employment levels down only 1.9% from last December (-120 jobs). The job losses are largely concentrated in leisure and hospitality (-160 jobs) and manufacturing (-100).
Deschutes County (Bend-Redmond MSA): The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 7.6% in December, up significantly from 6.7% in November. The rate remains up from December 2019, when it was 3.2%.
Deschutes County lost 840 jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis in December, the first monthly job losses since April. These monthly losses were concentrated in leisure and hospitality.
Compared to this time last year, employment in Deschutes County remained down 7.2% (-6,360 jobs).
Despite the losses in December, there has been considerable improvement to the employment situation since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March, Runberg said. The county recovered 8,330 of the 15,340 jobs lost in April, or roughly 54% of jobs lost have been added back.
We continue to see losses concentrated in leisure and hospitality, with employment levels down nearly 30% from December 2019. There have also been notable losses in manufacturing (-16.9%) and local government education (-14.3%).
Jefferson County: The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 7.1% in December, an increase from 6.8% in November. The rate was 4% in December 2019.
Jefferson County posted a small gain of 20 jobs in December on a seasonally adjusted basis, one of the few counties to see employment gains in December. Although the county did not lose jobs in December, the pace of recovery continues to slow.
Employment levels are only down around 3.1% from this time last year (-200 jobs), as the county has already regained nearly 75% of the jobs lost since the initial COVID-19 shock. The leisure and hospitality sector remains down by 100 jobs from this time last year; however, the drop of roughly 16% isn’t nearly as severe as in other communities.
Next Press Releases
The Oregon Employment Department plans to release the January county and metropolitan area unemployment rates on Tuesday, March 9 and the statewide unemployment rate and employment survey data for January on Tuesday, March 2.
