by Brad Houle, CFA Executive Vice President Ferguson Wellman,Portland The stock market was up for last week with the S&P 500 returning .20 percent.  During the week, the S&P 500 climbed to an all-time high on Thursday. Bonds were higher in price and lower in yield with the 10-year Treasury […]

Oregon Employment Department, Average Earnings for Young Workers Peaked 15 Years Ago  The average real monthly earnings of Oregon workers increased in the 1990s, was essentially flat from 2000 to 2014, and has been on the rise since. Recently, average earnings have been on the rise for all age groups, […]

U.S. Senator Ron Wyden Press Release, U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., filed an amicus brief with the Department of Labor (DOL) urging the agency to not weaken existing whistleblower protections in cases of retaliation against private-sector employees. Wyden, Grassley and Speier […]

From WSJ Editorial Board August 12, 2016 Progressives claim they can pay for their grand spending ambitions by soaking the rich, but the little guy invariably gets wet. The latest illustration is Oregon, where unions are campaigning for a gross-receipts tax on large corporations that even state budget analysts warn […]

US Chamber Foundation, Hiring Our Heroes has announced it is partnering with award-winning rock band KISS and the Veteran Tickets Foundation (Vet Tix) to salute military heroes across the country as part of the KISS 2016 “Freedom to Rock” tour. KISS will hire a military veteran or currently serving member […]

By Oregon Employment Department, In 2012, the U.S. Census estimates Oregon had 339,000 firms. Of these, 331,000 were classifiable by gender, ethnicity, or race. Men owned half of these firms, while women owned 37 percent, and equally male/female owned businesses made up 13 percent of the total. Although men’s firm […]

By Dr. Eric Fruits, Oregon Economist On Demand Newsletter “Ban the Box” laws prevent employers from conducting criminal background checks until well into the job application process. (“Ban the Box” comes from the check box on many job applications asking, “Have you every been convicted of a crime?”) Proponents of […]

Barran Liebman Oregon Law Firm What The What? A Higher Paid Male Employee Threatens An Equal Pay Act Claim? By Michael G. McClory This week’s (fictional) mailbag question may leave you scratching your head. We see all kinds of (made up) letters and this one shocked even us. HR manager […]

By NFIB, A fall ballot measure is bad news for Oregon small businesses. Measure 97 is a proposal sponsored by the Oregon labor groups, which would impose a 2.5 percent gross receipts tax on companies that earn more than $25 million annually, drawing ire from business groups throughout the state. […]

Oregon Business News Note Amazon has designed a portable hand-held scanner that you can use at home to scan products in order to build a shopping list on the go or when it comes to your head. Check out the CNN Business video of this product and Amazon’s voice activation […]