Oregon adds 5,000 jobs; unemployment still at record low

Oregon’s unemployment rate has been at an historical low and stable for more than a year, remaining at 4.1 percent in January and December, the state Employment Department reported Tuesday.

Annual revisions to labor force data show Oregon’s unemployment rate between 4.1 percent and 4.2 percent for all 13 months between January 2017 and January 2018. Oregon’s unemployment rate of 4.1 percent is the lowest unemployment rate in the comparable historical series which dates back to 1976.

In January, Oregon’s nonfarm payroll employment grew by 5,000 jobs, following a revised gain of 9,800 jobs in December. Three major industries each added close to 1,000 jobs: private educational services (+1,100 jobs), construction (+1,000), and manufacturing (+800). These gains were partially offset by a loss of 700 jobs in leisure and hospitality. Health care and social assistance added 2,300 jobs above the gain due to a reclassification of home care workers.

Payroll employment grew by 2.7 percent in the most recent 12 months. Between January 2017 and January 2018, Oregon added 50,600 jobs. Recent estimates of payroll employment indicate an acceleration in job growth, led by construction which added 7,500 jobs in that time. Three other industries posted rapid growth faster than 4 percent: private educational services (+2,800 jobs, or 7.9%), other services (+3,100 jobs, or 5.0%), and leisure and hospitality (+9,700 jobs, or 4.8%). Meanwhile two industries cut jobs: information (-100 jobs, or 0.3%) and wholesale trade (-600 jobs, or -0.8%).

Starting with Tuesday’s news release, employment of Oregon’s approximately 17,000 home care workers will be counted in private health care and social assistance, instead of state government. The change is due to legislative action clarifying that for purposes of workforce and labor market information, home care workers are not employees of state government. The reclassification affects private sector and government monthly change figures for January 2018 and will affect over-the-year change figures through December 2018. It does not affect total payroll employment levels.

Next Press Releases
The Oregon Employment Department plans to release the January county and metropolitan area unemployment rates on Tuesday, March 13th, and the next statewide unemployment rate and employment survey data for February on Tuesday, March 20th.

Notes:
All numbers in the above narrative are seasonally adjusted.

The Oregon Employment Department and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) 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. This press release incorporates, for the first time, the annual revisions to the data for 2017 and prior years.

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.

Equal Opportunity program — auxiliary aids and services available upon request to individuals with disabilities. Contact: (503) 947-1794. For the Deaf and Hard of Hearing population, call 711 Telecommunications Relay Services.