Shawn Narancich, CFA, VP Research Ferguson Wellman, Portland Investors unnerved by disappointing economic data of late breathed a sigh of relief with the April jobs report, which showed that nonfarm payrolls rebounded to a monthly rate of 223,000 last month. Unemployment dropped again and now stands at 5.4 percent, a […]

By Taxpayer Foundation of Oregon Oregon Congressman Earl Blumeneaur was featured on one of the nation’s most watched programs, 60 Minutes, over infrastructure funding for funding of our bridges, roads and rails. The show revives the debate over funding (which can be a complex topic: gas tax changes, per-mile taxes, […]

By Dr. Eric Fruits, Econ Minute Firms often use referrals from existing employees to hire new workers. About 50 percent of US jobs are found through informal referral networks and about 70 percent of firms have programs encouraging referral-based hiring. One can argue that the social networking site LinkedIn is mostly a referral-based job board […]

By Josh Lehner Oregon Office of Economic Analysis Blog So far in early 2015, the U.S. economic data flow has been relatively lackluster, including the disappointing March jobs report. As such, now is a good time to take a step back and mark one’s economic beliefs to market, to borrow […]

By Jan Meekcoms Oregon NFIB Bill would ‘put the employer in a hiring straitjacket.’ Oregon is considering a “ban the box” law that would eliminate questions about felony convictions on employment applications. But small business owners say House Bill 3025 would limit the ability of a small business owner to […]

By Technology Association of Oregon. Why TAO is in opposition of HB 2237 and HB 2995 We write to you in opposition of HB 2237 and HB 2995 as written, and with the -2 amendments to HB 2995. These bills would place burdensome, prohibitive and punitive insurance requirements on Transportation […]

NIKE Press release & Speech, Nike Welcomes President Obama to its World Headquarters — Outlines Support for TPP and Vision For Advanced Manufacturing in the U.S. NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) welcomes President Obama to its World Headquarters in support of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The company […]

U.S. Chamber of Commerce The U.S. Chamber of Commerce released its How They Voted scorecard, an effort that began 50 years ago, and also honored 208 members of the House of Representatives and 40 members of the Senate with its annual Spirit of Enterprise Award, given in recognition of their […]

Quite a few requests coming in these days to talk about trade, its economic impact and the outlook for both the nation (new trade agreements) and local (Port of Portland marine operations) economies. There are lots of numbers flying around and it can be hard to tell which ones are […]

Associated Oregon Industries Oregon’s largest business advocate Preliminary analysis of Moro decision shows PERS costs will rise nearly 5% in 2017-19, costing nearly $750 million. The Oregon Supreme Court delivered its decision  in the case of Moro v State of Oregon. The Court overturned the vast majority of the PERS […]