Oregon Household Debt: Mostly Tame Oregon Office of Economic Analysis by Josh Lehner In early 2017, total household debt in the U.S. reached an all-time high according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Household Debt and Credit Report. There has been some handwringing over this given huge debt […]

BACK-TO-SCHOOL AND BACK-TO-COLLEGE SPENDING TO REACH $83.6 BILLION With consumer confidence rising and more young people in school, back-to-college spending is expected to hit an all-time high this year while back-to-school spending is expected to see its second-highest spending level on record, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual survey […]

Small Business Tax Cut was on the Chopping Block By Anthony K. Smith, Oregon National Federation of Independent Business By a vote of 31-28, the Oregon House of Representatives passed House Bill 2060 on June 23. The bill would have raised $196 million for the 2017-2019 state budget by effectively […]

Drug Free Workplace, Is That a Reality? (OR: Drug Testing, Can I, Should I?) Cascade Employers Blog   It’s summer time which means people are out having fun. And not all of it is safe and responsible. Did you know that an average of 9.5 percent of all workers from […]

Job Flows Into Oregon Oregon Workforce and Economic Information Each quarter between summer 2014 and spring 2015, Oregon added an average of 17,300 workers from other states, while 14,200 workers left Oregon for jobs elsewhere. That means on net each quarter an average of 3,100 workers from other states left […]

What Oregon’s expanded version of the Equal Pay Act of 2017 means for employers Ater-Wynne: NW Business Litigation by Stacey Mark The Oregon legislature recently enacted an expanded Equal Pay Act designed to eliminate discriminatory pay practices based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation (as defined in ORS 174.100), […]

American Business Presses Congress on Tax Reform: “A Once-in-a-Generation Opportunity” US Chamber of Commerce By Heather McPherson The U.S. Chamber, along with the Business Roundtable, the National Federation of Independent Business, and the National Association of Manufacturers, sent a message to Congress urging them to reform tax policy. The four business […]

Oregon’s Debt Buyer Bill Passes Out of Oregon Senate; Moves to Governor’s Desk Via Oregon Attorney General ​ The Oregon Senate passed House Bill 2356, clearing the way for this landmark consumer legislation to go to the Governor for her signature. Unfair debt collection practices have scored near the top […]

Oregon Businesses Report Record 62,625 Vacancies in Spring Oregon Workforce and Economic Information Private businesses in Oregon continued their strong hiring demand this spring. They had 62,600 job openings at any given time in the second quarter, the largest quarterly total since we began asking them in 2013.

B   Unsurprising evidence that hiking the minimum wage hurts low wage workers Econ Minute On July 1, the minimum wage spiked in several cities and states across the country. Portland, Oregon’s minimum wage will rise by $1.50 to $11.25 an hour. Los Angeles will also hike its minimum wage […]