23 Counties hit record job rate

By Oregon Employment Department,

Benton County had Oregon’s lowest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in February at 2.9 percent. Grant County (7.2%) registered the highest rate for the month. Fourteen of Oregon’s counties had unemployment rates at or below the statewide rate of 4.0 percent and 22 counties were below the national rate of 4.7 percent. Gilliam County saw its unemployment rate improve over the year by 2.2 percentage points, more than any other county. Twenty-three counties were at or tied with their historic low unemployment rates in February.

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose in all of Oregon’s six broad regions between February 2016 and February 2017. The largest job gains occurred in Central Oregon (+3.2%) and Southern Oregon (+3.1%). The Willamette Valley (+1.8%), Portland (+1.2%), Eastern Oregon (+1.1%), and the Oregon Coast (+0.3%) also saw growth.

See the full labor force and unemployment by area press release in 36 counties and metropolitan areas in Oregon.


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