Archives

September 1, 2009 - Cash for Home Appliance Clunkers

By Oregon Business Report, The American Recovery and Reinvestment act is now investing $300 million in an effort to boost the sales of energy-efficient home appliances.  This Cash for Appliances federal program is expected to begin late this fall, authorizing rebates ranging from $50 to $200 for purchases of high-efficiency […]


September 1, 2009 - Economist survey: Not much faith in new Stimulus, Cap-and-trade

Of 266 economists surveyed by the National Association for Business Economics: – 70% Say Fed’s monetary policy is “about right” – 49% Say Fed should leave monetary policy alone – 45% Favor more restrictive policies – 15% Say cap-and-trade would significantly cut emissions – 75%+ Say no second stimulus needed


August 31, 2009 - PDX downtown: 5,000 jobs lost, government jobs rise

Downtown Portland sees decline in jobs, Continued positive feelings on safety, cleanliness By Portland Business Alliance, Business Census and Survey also shows spike in mass transit commuting Portland, Ore. – Signs of the country’s economic downturn are evident throughout the Central City, according to the results of the Portland Business […]


August 30, 2009 - Survey: Americans happy at work — especially women, seniors

Despite Tough Economy, Most Americans Happy on the Job, National Survey Finds But national survey finds job-satisfaction level sees sharp decline from 2008 RICHMOND, Va., Aug. 27, 2009 – Americans are happy at work, just not as happy as they used to be. According to a just-released national survey – […]


August 29, 2009 - Oil Price Forecast for 2010

By Bill Conerly, Businomics, Conerly Consulting Oil prices rose as Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke offered positive thoughts about the economy.  Does a strengthening world economy mean higher oil prices in 2010?  Not so fast, Bucky.



August 28, 2009 - Oregon workweek hours rebounds to 37.9 average

Oregon’s Workweek Partially Rebounds by David Cooke Oregon Employment Department A closely watched measure of state economic activity is average weekly hours for manufacturing production workers. This monthly indicator has been available for Oregon for many years. The measure was close to 40 hours per week in early 2008 but […]


August 28, 2009 - New data says Oregon approaching bottom of recession

GOOD NEWS: New jobless shrinks, building permits up,  and Tourism is up (lodging and Air travel) BAD NEWS: Payroll declines, Home sales drop, By Timothy Duy Director, Oregon Economic Forum University of Oregon The LCBI declined 1.7% in the second quarter of 2009, the eighth consecutive quarter of deterioration.  The […]


August 27, 2009 - The Economics behind Portland and Baseball

By Patrick Emerson Oregon Economics Blog I came across an interesting post on the Portland Architecture Blog (where I indulge my fantasy life as an architect) which muses whether Portland has grown beyond the minor leagues. The idea, in essence, is that Portlanders are no longer in minor league sports […]


August 26, 2009 - Obama forecast fails. Huge job lossess ahead.

White House economists see increasing unemployment for the next 12 months By Dr. Eric Fruits, Oregon Economist EconInternational, The White House budget office has released its latest economic and fiscal projections. It predicts the largest deficits since World War II and increasing unemployment. The White House unemployment prediction highlights the […]