Archives

May 16, 2009 - Employment Law Update – May 2009

Employment Law Update on EEOC Guidelines, Emergency Preparedness, Furloughs and EFCA By Dunn, Carney, Allen, Higgins & Tongue April proved to be a very active month, and ended with new challenges for employers.  In addition to the frenzy of tax season and winding up Q1, employers learned of several new […]


May 15, 2009 - A Closer Look At Auto Dealerships Closing in Oregon

José Pinomesa, President Oregon Independent Auto Dealers Association As dealerships close around the country we can see much of the same here in Oregon.  Since 2001 there has been a decline in the number of dealerships, but this has to be the low point in years.  When times were good […]


May 15, 2009 - Do Unions Hurt Business Performance?

By Patrick Emerson Oregon Economics Blog One of the recurring themes of the ‘problems with Detroit’ narrative is that labor became too powerful, won too many costly concessions (e.g. the jobs bank) and these concessions are now crippling and are responsible for a big part of the troubles of America’s […]


May 14, 2009 - Oregon House Bill would criminalize misclassification of workers

By Stacey Mark Northwest Business Litigation Ater Wynne Attorneys at Law Worker misclassification has been a hot topic in Oregon for years.  In 2006, the legislature changed the statutory definition of independent contractor to clarify the criteria that must be met to qualify in Oregon.  Athough the current law imposes […]



May 13, 2009 - Oregon Economist: Obama jobless predictions off by 2.9 million

Obama economists’ jobless predictions off by 2.9 million By Dr. Eric Fruits, EconInternational Recovery Report Card – Revised Jobless Predictions: In January, Administration economists Romer & Bernstein predicted that stimulus spending would mean that unemployment at the end of this year would be 7.6 percent. Now, Christina Romer, chairwoman of […]



May 12, 2009 - Senate Backs Away From Employer Gag Bill

Article by J.L. Wilson Associated Oregon Industries Oregon’s Largest Business Lobby SB 519 gets sent back to committee, indicating lack of support. AOI initiated its most intense grassroots efforts of the 2009 Session this week on SB 519, also known as the “Employer Gag Bill.”  SB 519 makes it illegal […]



May 11, 2009 - Construction Spending: Not Good News At All

By Bill Conerly, Businomics, Conerly Consulting LLC I tried to get excited about the latest news, focusing on non-residential construction.  (No hope any time soon for residential activity.)  Here’s the private non-res data: