Hot Deschutes County job market shows first signs of cooling
Central Oregon is seeing early signs of a slowdown in the labor market after years of rapid growth, the state Employment Department’s regional economist said Tuesday.
“Deschutes County’s pace of job growth is slowing, although the county is still adding jobs at a faster pace than all other metro areas in Oregon,” Regional Economist Damon Runberg wrote.
“Weak seasonal hiring in June helped to drive the unemployment rate up, the first significant monthly increase since 2009. Crook and Jefferson counties followed typical seasonal hiring patterns in June.”
Here’s the July report:
Deschutes County’s unemployment rate increased significantly in June, likely the result of slower than expected seasonal hiring. Central Oregon’s rural counties saw little change to their employment situation following normal seasonal hiring patterns in June.
Crook County: The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.5 percent in June. The rate was down significantly from last year when it was 7.2 percent in June 2016.
Crook County added 140 jobs in June, fairly typical gains for this time of year.
Total nonfarm employment is up 110 jobs from last June. Crook County’s rate of growth (+1.8%) was slower than the state, which saw total nonfarm employment rise nearly 3 percent in the past year. A majority of the job growth came from the construction industry (+70 jobs) with modest gains in health and private education (+30 jobs). The only private sector job losses were in wood product manufacturing and “other services”.
Deschutes County (Bend-Redmond MSA): The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 3.9 percent in June from 3.5 percent in May. Although the unemployment rate remains very low, this is the first statistically significant monthly increase in Deschutes County’s unemployment rate in over 8 years. The rate remains down significantly from last year when it was 5.1 percent.
Deschutes County added 750 jobs in June, which is less than typically expected this time of year. The seasonally adjusted job losses in June are not particularly concerning following larger than expected gains in both April and May. Monthly job gains continued to be concentrated in construction and leisure and hospitality as we approach the summer peak. There were also strong gains in the professional and business services sector (+190).
There were more than 3,500 nonfarm jobs in Deschutes County in June, compared to the same time last year, a growth of 4.4 percent. Deschutes County continues to add jobs at a faster pace than all other metro areas or counties across the state. Job growth was largely driven by the professional sector, construction, and leisure and hospitality. Job losses over the past year were largely limited to retail trade and accommodation and food services.
Jefferson County: The unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.9 percent in June. The rate is down significantly from last June when it was 7.0 percent.
Jefferson County added 70 jobs in June, fairly typical gains for this time of year.
Employment levels are only up by around 70 jobs from last year, a growth rate of only 1.1 percent. Slow growth is largely being effected by job losses in the public sector, in particular, Indian tribal government (-100 jobs). Private sectors gains were driven by the manufacturing sector, which added 100 jobs from last June.
Next Press Releases
The Oregon Employment Department plans to release the July county and metropolitan area unemployment rates on Tuesday, August 22 nd and the statewide unemployment rate and employment survey data on Tuesday, August 15 th .
