By Oregon Employment Department, Oregon’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was unchanged at 10.6 percent in April, the same level as in March. The rate has been essentially unchanged for the most recent six months. Oregon’s unemployment rate was 11.5 percent in April 2009. In April, 211,688 Oregonians were unemployed. In […]

By Tim Duy, Oregon Economic Forum University of Oregon Portland Metro Business Index . sponsor, KeyBank. The University of Oregon Portland Metro Business Index (PMBI) rose 1.2% percent to 88.9 (2002=100) in the first quarter of 2010.  Compared to year ago levels, the PMBI is down just 2.5 percent, a […]

By Bill Conerly, Conerly Consulting, Businomics, This is my third (and maybe final) post in the series on the economic effects of our budget deficit and debt.  First I talked about the risk of inflation due to the deficit, then about the potential of a debt crisis in America.  In […]

By Oregon Small Business Association Earlier this week Google Inc. announced the amount of economic impact that Google had on each state in 2009. In Oregon, 28,500 advertisers and publishers benefitted to the tune of $510.5 million, either by placing their ads on Google or by placing Google advertisements on […]

Merkley Joins Robert Menendez and Bill Nelson to Close Tax Loopholes, Save Taxpayers $20 Billion Over 10 Years Senator Jeff Merkley Press Release Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) joined Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Bill Nelson (D-FL) today to announce legislation that will close a number of […]

Health Care Reform: The Eight Steps for Employers Now By Barran Liebman With all of the press, articles, and presentations covering Health Care Reform and the enormity of the topic, we have prepared a simple guide to what employers must do today or within the next few months to comply […]

Agency Aggressively Joins in Challenges to Status of Independent Contractors; Announces “ESD is on your tail! By Nigel P. Avilez and Michael J. Killeen Davis, Wright and Tremaine LLP In 2009, Washington state’s Employment Security Department (ESD) paid out nearly $4 billion in unemployment benefits, setting a state record for […]

DISCLOSE Act Is Partisan Effort to Silence Critics and Gain Political Advantage By U.S. Chamber of Commerce, WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue issued the following statement today in response to the House Administration Committee’s markup of the so-called “DISCLOSE Act:” “The DISCLOSE Act is […]

Two videos to watch 1. CNN Money asks questions about Google TV launch 2. Google TV promo video See other video below:

Governor Ted Kulongoski Press Release and Summary Reset Cabinet issues an analysis of state services and fiscal future to educate the public and decision makers in advance of final recommendations next month Salem – Governor Ted Kulongoski today received an update from the Reset Cabinet he created in September 2009 […]