Oregon Businesses Report Record 62,625 Vacancies in Spring Oregon Workforce and Economic Information Private businesses in Oregon continued their strong hiring demand this spring. They had 62,600 job openings at any given time in the second quarter, the largest quarterly total since we began asking them in 2013.

B   Unsurprising evidence that hiking the minimum wage hurts low wage workers Econ Minute On July 1, the minimum wage spiked in several cities and states across the country. Portland, Oregon’s minimum wage will rise by $1.50 to $11.25 an hour. Los Angeles will also hike its minimum wage […]

Critiquing Minium Wage Laws Is About Protecting The Working Man (or Woman) By Lydia White Cascade Policy Institute A team of researchers from the University of Washington produced a study, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, that measures the effects of Seattle’s minimum wage requirement of $13 per […]

PASS OBAMACARE REPEAL AND CONTINUE FIXING HEALTH CARE POLICY Robin Roberts, National Retail Federation The National Retail Federation today praised congressional efforts to replace former President Obama’s Affordable Care Act in an op-ed published in the newspaper USA TODAY, but added that further actions are needed to provide relief for […]

Wall Street Journal Editorial, The Supreme Court has done some of its best work in recent years on the First Amendment, and that continued with an 8-0 decision Monday protecting unpopular speech. The Justices ruled that an Asian-American rock band called The Slants can’t be denied a federal trademark because […]

House Passes Bipartisan Updates to Career and Technical Education Programs Education, Jobs and Economy Bonamici Applauds Strengthening CTE Courses Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) applauded the House of Representatives for passing a bipartisan update to federal Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs. The Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century […]

Oregon’s Multiple Jobholders in 2016 Oregon Workforce and Economic Information  In 2016, 106,000 Oregonians held more than one job in addition to their primary job and were considered to be multiple jobholders. The multiple jobholding rate – the proportion of multiple jobholders among all employed workers – was 5.4 percent, […]

House votes to dishonor tax compromise it made as part of ‘Grand Bargain’ Anthony K. Smith, NFIB The Oregon House of Representatives voted 31-28 today to drastically restrict the number of small businesses eligible for the tax rates it agreed to during the 2013 special session as part of the […]

U.S. Chamber President Reacts to Senate Health Care Proposal via U.S. Chamber of Commerce  U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue issued the following statement today upon the release of the Senate discussion draft on health care:

  Schrader Bill to Prevent Forest Fires, Reduce Blackouts Passes the House Via Congressman Kurt Schrader Congressman Kurt Schrader (OR-5)’s bill to improve the safety and reliability of the electric grid on our federal lands, the Electric Reliability and Forest Protection Act, passed through the House with overwhelming bipartisan support, […]