Central Oregon’s September jobless rates hold steady; Deschutes job numbers up for month, down a bit for year

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Central Oregon seasonally adjusted unemployment rates remained steady in September, with little to no change, the Oregon Employment Department reported Tuesday.

Crook County: The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased over the month of September and is now 5.7%, down from 5.8% in August—in September of last year, it was 5.9%. The unemployment rate remains 1.2 percentage points above the record low set before the pandemic, when it was 4.5%.

Crook County lost 10 jobs (-0.1%) in September, with most losses occurring in professional and business services (-20 jobs); leisure and hospitality (-20 jobs); and retail trade (-20 jobs). Gains were minimal and concentrated in private education and health services (+40 jobs).

The county gained 250 jobs in the last year (+3.3%). Notable job gains were seen in construction (+130 jobs), government (+50 jobs), and information (+40 jobs). Job losses were concentrated in transportation, warehousing, and utilities (-20 jobs) and leisure and hospitality (-20 jobs).

Deschutes County (Bend-Redmond MSA): The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged from August to September at 4.0%. September’s unemployment rate remains 0.6 percentage point above its record low of 3.4%, set before the onset of the pandemic.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that Deschutes County gained 880 jobs (+0.9%) from August to September and total nonfarm employment is now 96,470. Job losses were concentrated in leisure and hospitality (-490 jobs); mining, logging, and construction (-160 jobs); and professional and business services (-100 jobs). Gains were seen primarily within public sector local education (+1,590 jobs).                                       

Total nonfarm employment declined by 0.2% (-160 jobs) from September 2023 to September 2024. Over-the-year job losses were concentrated in leisure and hospitality (-1,370 jobs); retail trade (-440 jobs); and mining, logging, and construction (-380 jobs). Most over-the-year gains occurred in private education and health services (+1,210 jobs), with smaller gains in the public sector (+890 jobs).

Jefferson County: The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged over the month of September, standing at 4.7%. Last year the unemployment rate was also 4.7% in September, and it was 4.4% from October 2019 to December 2019, shortly before the first impacts from COVID-19.

Total nonfarm employment gained 140 jobs in September (+2.1%) with the majority of gains occurring in local government (+210 jobs). Over-the-month job losses were seen primarily within leisure and hospitality (-40 jobs). Total nonfarm seasonally adjusted employment is now -1.0% (-70 jobs) below the pre-pandemic employment level.

Jefferson County’s total nonfarm employment increased by 50 jobs over the past year (+0.7%). Job gains were concentrated in private education and health services (+50 jobs). Losses were concentrated in manufacturing (-20 jobs), with minor losses in construction (-10 jobs) and leisure and hospitality (-10 jobs). The public sector gained 10 jobs over the year.

Regional economist Nicole Ramos explains: that for the monthly report, "only the unemployment rate and total nonfarm employment are seasonally adjusted. This allows us to observe non-seasonal trends by accounting for seasonality.

"In contrast, the detailed industries are not seasonally adjusted," Ramos said. "Some industries do not exhibit the same seasonality, if at all. Therefore, it doesn’t make sense to adjust them seasonally.

"The month-to-month and year-to-year comparisons at the industry level, without adjustment, also allows for direct comparison to the same industry in previous periods without removing natural variations that might be important to understand the industry's specific trends," Ramos added.

Next Press Releases
The Oregon Employment Department plans to release the October county and metropolitan area unemployment rates and employment survey data on Tuesday, Nov. 19, and the statewide unemployment rate and employment survey data for October on Thursday, Nov. 14.