By NFIB, Job creation among small businesses broke the 45-year record in February with a net addition of 0.52 workers per firm, according to NFIB’s monthly jobs report, released today. The previous record was in May 1998 at 0.51 workers per firm. The percent of owners citing labor costs as […]

Timothy A. Duy Director, Oregon Economic Forum Department of Economics, University of Oregon Below is the University of Oregon State of Oregon Economic Indicators for December 2018. The release date is March 5, 2019. Special thanks to our sponsor, KeyBank The Oregon Measure of Economic Activity rose to 0.41 in […]

70/30 Split Protecting Lodging Tax Investments Threatened By Oregon Restaurant Association, Oregon’s lodging tax investments could be drastically reduced if Senate Bill 595 passes. If successful, SB 595 would eradicate the critical lodging tax reforms of 2003 by taking 30% of our industry’s 70% of any new or increased lodging […]

By Wall Street Journal Editorial, 3,4,19 Governor Kate Brown signed legislation last week making Oregon the first state to enact statewide rent control. One would be hard put to identify an economic policy with a more proven record of destruction. Democrats say the law will ease the state’s housing-affordability crisis, […]

Oregon Congressman Greg Walden, Continuing his efforts to protect consumers, boost innovation, and maintain an open internet, Representative Greg Walden (R-Hood River)  called on Congress to pass a permanent legislative solution to net neutrality. “The fact is, since its creation the internet has been the single most important driver of […]

U.S. Chamber of Commerce, The U.S. Chamber of Commerce released model privacy legislation calling for a federal privacy law that would protect consumers and eliminate a confusing patchwork of state laws. The U.S. Chamber worked with nearly 200 organizations of all sizes and sectors to draft the model legislation.

By Oregon Small Business Association, For the third year in a row, the Bend-Redmond area tops the list of the 201 best-performing small cities in the United States, while Portland’s economic performance failed to land it a spot among the top 25 large cities. In contrast, the Seattle metropolitan area, […]

By Oregon Small Business Association, Portland-based Columbia Sportswear has filed a $20 million lawsuit against a competitor, accusing Seirus Innovative Accessories of San Diego and its leaders of wire fraud, perjury, and racketeering. Columbia’s lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Portland, is just the latest volley in six-year intellectual […]

By Congressman Peter DeFazio, The House passed legislation introduced by House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-OR), the Pacific Northwest Earthquake Preparedness Act of 2019, to help fund an earthquake early warning system that could save lives, reduce injuries, and mitigate infrastructure damage from the devastating effects […]

By Josh Lehner Oregon Office of Economics Notes on three new marijuana research pieces that has come out recently. First, 2017 state level estimates of drug and alcohol use were released recently. What it shows is a continuation of trends related to marijuana use in the past decade. States with […]