Central Oregon jobless rates barely move
Improvements to the Central Oregon economy stalled in June as there was essentially no change to seasonally adjusted unemployment rates, the state reported Monday.
Jefferson County’s June rate of 10.6 percent was a statistically insignificant drop from its May rate of 10.7 percent. In June, Crook (12.6%) and Deschutes (10%) showed no change from their May unemployment rates.
Oregon’s unemployment rate was 7.9 percent in June, essentially unchanged from 7.8 percent in May. The national unemployment rate was 7.6 percent in both May and June.
The rest of the report from the Oregon Employment Department:
Crook County : In June, Crook County’s improvements in the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stalled as it remained unchanged from May at 12.6 percent. The unemployment rate in June 2012 was 14.3 percent.
Crook County’s unemployment rate is the second-highest of Oregon’s 36 counties. Compared to the other counties in Oregon, Crook County experienced the largest over-the-year reduction in seasonally adjusted unemployment rate (-1.7%).
The county added 110 jobs in June. Over-the-month growth was concentrated in the private sector (+110) with government showing no change from May. Leisure and hospitality experienced better than expected seasonal gains (+60). Retail trade gained 20 jobs in June. Over-the-month losses were concentrated in local government (-40) and transportation, warehousing, and utilities (-20).
Compared to this time last year, total nonfarm employment is up by 100 jobs, with all gains coming from the private sector (+140).
Manufacturing and education and health services each showed strong gains over the year, both adding 50 jobs. Transportation, warehousing, and utilities gained 40 jobs from last June.
Information continued to be the fastest growing industry, up 40 percent from last year. The federal government posted the largest over-the-year losses (-30), followed by wholesale trade (-20), and state government (-20).
Deschutes County (Bend MSA) : The June seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 10.0 percent was unchanged from the revised May rate. Deschutes County experienced a significant year-over-year drop in the unemployment rate from June 2012 when the rate was 11.5 percent. However, Deschutes County maintains the highest level of unemployment of Oregon’s metro areas.
Preliminary estimates from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for the Bend metropolitan area show an increase of 1,150 jobs in June. BLS analysts estimate that private-sector employment increased by 1,310 jobs in June, while government shed 160 jobs.
Many of the gains continue to be concentrated in tourism with leisure and hospitality up 790 jobs and retail trade up 130 from May. Mining, logging, and construction showed strong job gains in June (+180).
June was the 14 th consecutive month of year-over-year job gains in Deschutes County, up 1,950 jobs from June 2012.
Over-the-year job gains continue to be concentrated in the private-sector (+1,580). Educational and health services (+670) and leisure and hospitality (+590) continue to show the strongest over-the-year growth.
Mining, logging, and construction reached its highest June employment since 2009 and the industry was up 320 jobs over-the-year. Local education was up 420 jobs from last year, exceeding its pre-recession June peak. Retail trade (-190) and financial activities (-90) continued to shed jobs over-the-year.
These preliminary estimates are subject to revision as more information becomes available from employers.
Jefferson County : The June seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Jefferson County was 10.6 percent, essentially unchanged from May. Over-the-year, Jefferson County’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate lowered from the June 2012 rate of 12.2 percent.
Jefferson County added 140 jobs in June. Gains were nearly split between the private-sector (+80) and government (+60) with Indian tribal accounting for 40 of the job gains in government. Leisure and hospitality continued to show strong growth (+40), which is expected this time of year. Educational and health services (-10) posted the only losses in June.
Between June 2012 and June 2013, Jefferson County gained 40 jobs. Indian tribal posted the largest over-the-year jobs gains (+140), while manufacturing had the strongest private-sector gains (+80).
Professional and business services and educational and health services each gained 20 jobs from June 2012. Several industries posted over-the-year losses, including leisure and hospitality (-40), retail trade (-30), and financial activities (-20).
These estimates will be revised as new data from businesses becomes available. The next Central Oregon Employment Situation with preliminary data for July 2013 will be released on Monday, August 19 th .
