“Housing Starts Dropped Sharply as Multi-Family Activity Collapsed. Starts dropped to a new all-time low of just 458,000 units as multi-family activity dropped to a mere 90,000 units at an annual pace. The more volatile multi-family series has been the driver behind several large drops in recent months. Single-family activity […]

John Marshall Associated Oregon Industries Oregon’s Largest Business Lobby The bad news out of the just-released state economic and revenue forecast is that Oregon’s economy is still in recession and, as a result, state tax revenue is still dropping.  The good news is that the revenue decline is not as […]

By Bill Conerly, Businomics, Conerly Consulting LLC An audience member at one of my recent speeches asks how much of a drop in economic activity will occur due to de-leveraging and the end of stimulus programs.  Can we expect a double dip recession? Good question.  I’m not expecting a really […]

By Tom Kelley, SPHR, Sr. Vice President IEC Group Unemployment claims can be costly to your organization if not managed effectively. In order to assist the unemployment office to make an accurate decision about an employee’s benefit eligibility, each termination situation and decision should be well documented including the specific […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Census Bureau numbers show retail sales dropping 0.4% from march to April.