[5]By Patrick Emerson
Oregon Economics Blog [6]
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The Oregon employment picture looks a lot like the national one which is essentially stuck in neutral (oh, how many metaphors am I going to have to use?). The unemployment rate is basically the same at 9.4% but the real information is in the jobs number which is at plus 800 for June. As the employment department report notes, the Oregon economy has essentially added no net jobs since February. Ouch.
The nice gains in private sector job growth in professional and business services (+1,200 jobs), educational and health services (+2,200), and leisure and hospitality (+4,400), were counter weighted by losses in government (‐2,900 jobs), manufacturing (‐2,000), and trade, transportation and utilities (‐1,800). The government number shows the anti-stimulus effects of state government cutting sharply right when the economy is trying to get a little momentum.
It is a little tiring trying to think of something new to say each month as each month is the same basic story: tiny glimmers of a recovery, but not enough to provide any light.