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, […]

Twenty-Eight Counties Had Historic Low Unemployment Rates in May Oregon Workforce and Economic Information Twenty-eight counties were at or tied with their historic low unemployment rates. Benton County had Oregon’s lowest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in May at 2.8 percent. Grant County (6.7%) registered the highest rate for the month. […]

Teachers Union to Push Taxes on 2018 Ballot The proposed ballot measures would make it easier for the Legislature to increase business taxes, and impose a .95 percent gross receipts tax on certain corporations. via Oregon National Federation of Independent Businesses The Oregon Education Association (OEA) is pushing for two […]

Willamette Valley Household Incomes (Graph of the Week) Oregon Office of Economic Analysis by Josh Lehner This edition of the Graph of the Week highlights improving household incomes here in the Willamette Valley. As we have discussed numerous times lately, the tight labor market has begun driving many positive economic […]

Retail Sales Remain Flat in May by Treacy Reynolds National Retail Federation   Retail sales in May were essentially unchanged on a seasonally adjusted basis after an upwardly revised gain of 0.6 percent, according to calculations released today by the National Retail Federation. In May, sales were 5.3 percent above […]