Oregon jobless rate still low – but there’s a but

Oregon’s unemployment rate held at 4.1 percent in March and April, the state Employment Department reported Tuesday. For 16 consecutive months, the rate has been close to 4.1 percent, its lowest level since comparable records began in 1976.

The U.S unemployment rate dropped to 3.9 percent in April, from 4.1 percent in March.

Another unemployment measure, known as U-6, was at 8.3 percent in April, slightly below the 8.5 percent recorded in April 2017. The figure includes discouraged workers who stopped looking and part-time workers who want but can’t get full-time jobs.

In April, Oregon’s nonfarm payroll employment dropped by 2,900 jobs, following a revised gain of 5,000 jobs in March. This was Oregon’s first monthly job decline in 16 months. The last decline was in
December 2016.

In April, three major industries declined by more than 1,000 jobs. Retail trade dropped by 2,500 jobs, following a gain of 2,400 in March. Health care and social assistance cut 1,400 jobs in April following a gain of 800 during the prior two months. Professional and business services declined by 1,100 jobs and is now down 2,200 since its peak of 244,900 jobs in November 2017.

Meanwhile, seven of Oregon’s major industries added jobs in April, led by leisure and hospitality (+600 jobs) and construction (+500).

Over the past few years, Oregon’s economy gradually decelerated, from very rapid growth a few years ago to moderate growth over the past year. In the past 12 months, 29,600 jobs were added, which is a
gain of 1.6 percent. This rate of growth is a slowdown from the more rapid expansion during the prior
few years, when Oregon’s job gains peaked in mid-2015 at 3.7 percent.

Oregon’s annual job gains have been above 1.6 percent since March 2013. Oregon had been adding jobs at a faster pace than the U.S., but now is growing jobs at the same pace as the nation, since U.S. jobs also expanded by 1.6 percent during the past 12 months.