By National Retail Federation, Consumers plan to spend record amounts for both school and college supplies as families and students plan to return to in-person classrooms this fall, according to the annual survey released today by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. “The pandemic forced parents and […]

By Nicole Elgin & Andrew Schpak Barran Liebman Law On July 27, 2021, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) announced that it is recommending universal mask use for all public indoor settings, including for fully vaccinated people. OHA explained: “the use of face masks provides significant protection for individuals who are […]

By Oregon Employment Department, In June 2021, all but two of Oregon’s counties experienced over-the-month decreases in their unemployment rates. The unemployment rate in Sherman County did not change, and in Lake County it increased by 0.1 percentage point. Clatsop, Multnomah, and Wheeler counties saw the largest decrease over the […]

By US Senator Ron Wyden Oregon U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) said today he has introduced legislation with U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ) that would help financially support local news organizations through tax credits to incentivize hiring more journalists, subscriptions, and advertising from local small businesses. […]

By Naomi D. Johnson & Liani J. Reeves Bullard Law Oregon law firm The Oregon State Legislature adjourned its 2021 session at the end of June, but not before passing a slew of bills, some of which bring noteworthy changes for Oregon employers. Many of the new laws and updates […]

By NFIB, NFIB President & CEO Brad Close penned a new op-ed in The Hill explaining how plans to erode the Small Business Deduction would set a terrible precedent and open the door to further tax hikes on small businesses. Close notes how the Small Business Deduction is one of […]

By Oregon Employment Department, This week we’ve shared the latest unemployment and labor force numbers from June, and job vacancy totals during spring 2021 in Oregon. Oregon’s unemployment rate dropped to 5.6% in June. At any given time during spring 2021, Oregon’s private employers had 98,000 job openings. This makes […]

US Attorney Oregon District Press Release, A Newport, Oregon man was sentenced to federal prison today for creating websites to illegally distribute thousands of copyright-protected movies and television shows and evading taxes on the profits of his illicit endeavor. Talon White, 31, was sentenced to 12 months and one day […]

Timothy A. DuyDirector, Oregon Economic Forum Department of Economics, University of Oregon Below is the University of Oregon State of Oregon Economic Indicators for May 2021. The release date is June 30, 2021. Special thanks to our sponsor, KeyBank. Link to full report (with charts!) here. Oregon’s economic recovery gained […]

By Oregon Small Business Association, Nike has lost its battle in the European Union’s general court to squash a 2019 investigation into how the Portland-based sportswear giant pays its overseas taxes. The European Commission is probing claims that the Netherlands gave state aid to Nike by letting the company shift […]