Oregon’s jobless rate still holding steady; state added 8,500 jobs in July
SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Oregon’s seasonally adjusted nonfarm payroll employment rose by 8,500 jobs last month, following a revised decline of 700 jobs in June, and its jobless rate again held in the tight range its shown since last fall, the Oregon Employment Department said Wednesday.
July’s gains were largest in professional and business services (+2,300 jobs); health care and social assistance (+2,000); government (+1,800); and construction (+1,400). Declines in July were largest in leisure and hospitality (-700 jobs) and retail trade (-500).
Professional and business services added 2,300 jobs in July, following a drop of 1,700 in June. The July gain was led by the addition of 2,000 jobs in the component industry administrative and waste services. Despite the one-month increase, professional and business services cut 2,900 jobs, or -1.1%, in the past 12 months, with each of its three component industries also declining by close to 1% since July 2023.
Health care and social assistance expanded rapidly, adding 2,000 jobs in July and 16,300 jobs over the past 12 months. Social assistance grew by 7,500 jobs, or 10.3%, in 12 months. Meanwhile, the health-care component industries each added more than 2,000 jobs since July 2023: nursing and residential care facilities (+3,500 jobs, or 6.6%); ambulatory health care services (+3,700 jobs, or 3.7%); and hospitals (+2,300 jobs, or 3.9%).
Despite gains in health care and a few other industries, several industries cut jobs over the past year. Four major industries declined by at least 1,000 jobs since July 2023: retail trade (-6,600 jobs, or -3.2%); financial activities (-1,300 jobs, or -1.3%); professional and business services (-2,900 jobs, or -1.1%); and manufacturing (-1,900 jobs, or -1.0%).
Oregon’s unemployment rate was 4.1% in both June and July and has been in a tight range between 4.0% and 4.2% since October 2023. The U.S. unemployment rate rose from 4.1% in June to 4.3% in July.
Next Press Releases
The Oregon Employment Department plans to release the July county and metropolitan area unemployment rates on Tuesday, Aug. 20, and the next statewide unemployment rate and employment survey data for August on Wednesday, Sept. 18.
Notes: All numbers in the above narrative are seasonally adjusted except for the component industries within health care and social assistance.
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.
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 2024 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 can be found at QualityInfo.org/press-release. To obtain the data in other formats such as in Excel, visit QualityInfo.org, select Tools, then choose LAUS or CES under the Economy header. To request the press release as a Word document, contact the person shown at the top of this press release.
To file a claim for unemployment benefits or get more information about unemployment programs, visit unemployment.oregon.gov.
The Oregon Employment Department (OED) is an equal opportunity agency. OED provides free help so you can use our services. Some examples are sign language and spoken language interpreters, written materials in other languages, large print, audio, and other formats. To get help, please call 503-947-1444. TTY users call 711. You can also send an email to communications@employ.oregon.gov.
