By Josh Lehner, Office of Economic Analysis, Economic growth is surging as the pandemic wanes. Thanks to federal fiscal policy, consumers have higher incomes today than before COVID-19 hit. Now they are increasingly allowed to and feel comfortable resuming pandemic-restricted activities like going out to eat, on vacations, getting haircuts […]

By Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association, Reopening Oregon – According to the latest information on the Oregon Health Authority website and today’s press conference with Governor Brown, we are at 67.2% of Oregonians having received their first vaccine. Approximately 90,000 more Oregonians need to get in line to trigger the […]

By NFIB, The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index fell 0.2 points in May to 99.6. May saw a slight pause in the recovery of small business optimism after steadily increasing each month in 2021. As reported in NFIB’s monthly jobs report, a record-high 48% of owners reported unfilled job openings. […]

By Oregon Business and Industry OBI joined 25 other chambers and association partners urging Gov. Brown and the Legislature to consider using American Rescue Plan funds to create an incentive program aimed at encouraging people to accept work rather than relying on continued unemployment benefits. Read the full letter here. […]

Oregon Construction Employment Near Record Highs BY Oregon Employment Department, Oregon’s construction industry reached near a record high number of jobs in recent months, employing approximately 110,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis. The industry bounced back quickly from the COVID recession in which it spiked down to about 100,000 jobs […]

By Portland Business Alliance News Release 5/26/21- Portland Business Alliance is Greater Portland’s Chamber of Commerce and represents the largest, most diverse network of businesses in the region. Today the City of Portland Auditor’s office issued a statement and response, declining our request of reconsideration of unreported city lobbying violations. […]

By Oregon Small Business Association, People who like to imbibe can find one plus from the pandemic—Oregon lawmakers have legalized cocktails-to-go. Struggling bars and restaurants offered mixed drinks to go while attempting to survive the coronavirus pandemic, but Senate Bill 317 lets licensed businesses sell mixed drinks and single services […]

By National Federation of Independent Business, A record-high 48% of small business owners in May reported unfilled job openings (seasonally adjusted), according to NFIB’s monthly jobs report. May is the fourth consecutive month of record-high readings for unfilled job openings and is 26 points higher than the 48-year historical reading […]

By Oregon Employment Department, In April 2021, 19 out of 36 of Oregon’s counties experienced over-the-month increases in their unemployment rates. Curry and Morrow counties saw the largest over-the-month increase at 0.3 percentage points each in April. Nine counties experienced decreases in their unemployment rates over the month, and eight […]

By Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association National Restaurant Association Provides State and Local Lawmakers Blueprint for Rebuilding Blueprint includes funded and unfunded tools to accelerate the industry’s economic recovery The National Restaurant Association today sent a State and Local Blueprint for Rebuilding to the National Governors Association, the United States […]