Oregon jobs fall in September for second straight month

In September, Oregon’s nonfarm payroll employment dropped by 3,800 jobs, following a revised loss of 7,000 in August, the state Employment Department reported Tuesday. The job losses followed rapid gains during February through July, when a total of 42,600 jobs were added in just six months.

Recent forest fires did not have a noticeable impact on the September jobs report. Although many individuals and businesses were impacted in September by forest fires that raged in many locations within Oregon, the industry employment totals did not appear to be impacted significantly.

A job is counted in this report when a worker is employed for any part of the business’s pay period that includes the 12th of the month. Workers able to return to work during the September pay period are counted in the jobs report.

In September, four industries cut more than 1,000 jobs, while two added more than 1,000. Leisure and hospitality (-3,700 jobs) cut the most as this industry returned to the long-term trend line after a spike upward in June and July. With vacancy surveys indicating that many firms are having trouble attracting workers, part of the weakness in hiring is likely due to the tight labor market.

Professional and business services (-3,100 jobs) cut back at a time of year when a flat trend is typical for the industry. The industry appears to have stalled from its upward trajectory over the past eight years.

Each of its published component industries cut jobs since September 2016: employment services (-1,400 jobs), business support services (-400), and services to buildings and dwellings ( 1,500). The two other industries that cut substantially in September were private educational services ( 1,400 jobs) and other services (-1,200).

All was not lost in September, as construction added 2,900 jobs and government added 1,400.

The September jobs report indicates that Oregon’s over-the-year job growth, while moderate, has slowed. Between September 2016 and September 2017, payroll employment expanded by 37,400 jobs, or 2.0 percent. This is a reduction from the 3.1 percent job-growth rate seen through July. In the past 12 months, several industries continued to add jobs at a rapid clip, such as construction (+11,600 jobs, or 12.7%); health care and social assistance (+8,500 jobs, or 3.7%); and manufacturing (+5,700 jobs, or 3.0%).

However, many of Oregon’s industries haven’t experienced the same rapid growth over the past 12 months, including government; professional and business services; wholesale trade; information; other services; and logging.

Oregon’s unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 4.2 percent in September from 4.1 percent in August. Oregon’s rate was significantly below its year-ago rate of 4.9 percent in September 2016. The U.S. unemployment rate was 4.2 percent in September 2017.

Another unemployment measure, known as U-6, was at 8.2 percent in September – down from 10.2 percent at this time last year. The figure includes discouraged workers who stopped looking, as well as part-time workers who want but can’t get full-time jobs.

These preliminary estimates of jobs and other labor force data are produced in cooperation with the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, are based largely on a survey of businesses and a survey of households, and are subject to later revision.

Next Press Releases
The Oregon Employment Department plans to release the September county and metropolitan area unemployment rates on Tuesday, October 24th, and the next statewide unemployment rate and employment survey data for October on Tuesday, November 14th.

Notes:
All numbers in the above narrative are seasonally adjusted except for the detailed industries within professional and business services.

The Oregon Employment Department and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics work cooperatively to develop and publish monthly Oregon payroll employment and labor force data. The estimates of monthly job gains and losses are based on a survey of businesses. The estimates of unemployment are based on a survey of households and other sources.

The Oregon Employment Department publishes payroll employment estimates that are revised quarterly by using employment counts from employer unemployment insurance tax records. All department publications use this Official Oregon Series data unless noted otherwise. This month’s release incorporates the January, February and March 2017 tax records data. The department continues to make the original nonfarm payroll employment series available; these data are produced by the BLS.

The pdf version of the news release, including tables and graphs, can be found at www.QualityInfo.org/press-release. To obtain the data in other formats such as in Excel, visit www.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.

For help finding jobs and training resources, visit one of the state’s WorkSource Oregon Centers or go to: www.WorkSourceOregon.org.

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