A bi-partisan 28-2 vote sends Senate Bill 40 to the House By Oregon Attorney General Attorney General John Kroger today praised the Oregon Senate for its strong bi-partisan 28-2 vote in favor of a landmark bill that aims to crack down on charities that spend more than 70 percent of […]

Oregon’s Research & Development Tax Credit Critical to Economic Growth – Will it Continue? By J.L. Wilson Associated Oregon Industries Right now, the Oregon Legislature is determining whether to keep the R&D Tax Credit in place or eliminate it. Associated Oregon Industries is supporting passage of either House Bill 3174 […]

A Personal Tale: Sales in Panama Spell Success in Chicago By John Murphy U.S. Chamber of Commerce Check out this great video from the U.S. Department of Commerce about how a major contract in Panama’s canal expansion saved a Chicago company hammered by the recession. Some critics have disparaged the […]

Men are three times as Likely as Women to Earn Six Figures, twice as Likely to Earn $50,000 or More By Career Builders CHICAGO – March 23, 2011 – A new study from CareerBuilder shows perceptions of unequal pay and career advancement opportunities are increasing in the workplace. Thirty-eight percent […]

By Tim Duy, Oregon Economic Forum The University of Oregon Index of Economic Indicators™ rose 0.7 percent to 91.3 in February 2011. Of the seven indicators that comprise the UO Index, three – Oregon employment services payrolls, US consumer sentiment, and the interest rate spread – showed significant improvement. Highlights […]

Chart: U.S. beating other nations in recovery By Patrick Emerson, OSU professor Oregon Economics Blog How the Recovery in the US Compares? Pretty well, it turns out. [HT: WSJ]. We’ll never know the precise causal link, but I am inclined to believe that the relatively quick and aggressive fiscal stimulus, […]

Is social media the new bubble? Should the Fed care? By Oregon Tax News, As technology expands, companies find themselves with increased market values. The emergence of social media (more than 500 million accounts on Facebook alone), combined with mobile phone use (4.5 billion), is dramatically changing technology. Currently, Facebook […]

Problems with Buy American legislation — Rerun of 2010 measure reruns same problems By John Ledger Associated Oregon Industries In a rerun of a failed 2010 measure, HB 3349 – “Buy America” got a hearing in the House Business and Labor Committee, but lack of support precluded a vote on […]

By Bill Conerly, Conerly Consulting, Businomics We are currently under-building commercial real estate, which will lead to a mini-boom. The pipeline of new buildings is thin, so as the economy improves, there will be very little additional space coming to market. Occupancy rates and rents will rise. The resulting increases […]

by David Cooke Oregon Employment Department, Throughout the state, average hourly earnings are rising in the private sector. Between November and January, Oregon’s hourly earnings rose from $21.55 to $22.03. For Portland, the increase over that two-month period was from $23.61 to $24.15. Both of these large areas saw substantial […]