2017 in Review: Job Growth Slows as Unemployment Reaches Record Low Oregon Workforce and Economic Information Oregon’s job growth slowed in 2017 to its slowest rate in five years. The slowdown wasn’t caused by employers needing fewer workers. This slowdown seems to be the result of employers struggling to find […]

The Labor Market Will Remain Tight by Josh Lehner Oregon Office of Economic Analysis The labor market is tight. Difficulty finding (and retaining) workers is the biggest challenge many businesses face today. Whether or not the economy is truly at full employment is largely an academic issue*. In practice, we’re […]

Business New Year’s Resolution: Skip The Financial News by Bill Conerly Businomics Blog In the depths of the last recession, I met a business person who had just had the most productive six weeks in his career. It was hard to believe, so I asked how he had done it. […]

Cap-and-Trade, Tax Policy Highlight Legislative Day Agendas The Oregon Prosperity Project  Hearings during January Legislative Days this week will provide a preview of legislation likely to receive the most attention during the 35-day 2018 Session, which starts February 5. The highest-profile legislation during the Session likely will be an attempt […]

BOLI Publishes Final Rules for Daily & Weekly Overtime in Oregon By Nicole Elgin Barran Liebman Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) published its final rules on daily and weekly overtime relating to manufacturing establishments. These rules govern Oregon’s House Bill 3458 that clarifies Oregon’s overtime pay requirements for those […]

By Taxpayer Foundation of Oregon, Oregonians could soon be paying $4 or more for a gallon of gas if  lawmakers pass cap-and-trade in the next year. Just before Christmas, Oregon lawmakers unveiled an outline of their plan to impose a cap-and-trade program on the state. Sponsors of the program hope […]

Oregon Democrats outline 2018 carbon pricing plan Oregonians For Food and Shelter Oregon lawmakers this week released an overview of a carbon cap and pricing plan they want the Legislature to pass during the six-week session that starts in February.

By Taxpayer Association of Oregon Foundation, The landmark tax reform bill passed by Congress has already started reaping benefits even before it’s provisions take effect. The bill, which will reduce taxes for 80 percent of Americans and dramatically lowered tax rates for Corporations and other businesses, became effective January 1, […]

Governors Brown and Inslee Announce Decision to Opt In to FirstNet Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced that their states have chosen to opt in to the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) and AT&T to deliver a wireless broadband network to the states’ public safety community. […]

What to Do When Feedback is Met With Defensiveness By Erin Mahoney Great Work! It’s hard enough for many of us to summon the nerve to provide someone with constructive feedback. Ideally we’ve done some work preparing for the conversation: we’ve thought about a way to convey that we mean […]