Oregon’s Solid Job Growth and Low Unemployment Rate Continue in March

Oregon’s unemployment rate was 4.1 percent in February and March. For 15 consecutive months, the rate has been close to 4.1 percent, its lowest level since comparable records began in 1976. The U.S. unemployment rate was also 4.1 percent in both February and March. The economy continues to expand as reflected by record highs in Oregon’s civilian labor force (2,132,000 individuals) and total employment (2,043,000 individuals).

In March, Oregon’s nonfarm payroll employment grew by 4,200 jobs, following a revised gain of 700 jobs in February. Recent growth was somewhat stronger than during much of 2016 and 2017 when growth averaged 3,700 jobs per month.

In March, retail trade added 2,400 jobs, due to stronger hiring patterns than normal during the first three months of the year. These gains followed somewhat lackluster holiday hiring in retail at the end of 2017. In the past 12 months, the retail components adding the most jobs were motor vehicle and parts dealers (+1,000 jobs) and food and beverage stores (+1,000 jobs).

Manufacturing rebounded in March, adding 1,200 jobs, following a loss of 900 in February. Oregon’s manufacturing sector is growing, adding 4,200 jobs over the past 12 months. Durable goods manufacturing picked up the pace of hiring in recent months. Its growth was led by computer and electronic product manufacturing, which added 2,100 jobs over the past 12 months.

Professional and business services was the only other major industry with a notable over-the-month job change in March. It added 800 jobs, putting this large industry back on a track of modest expansion. Within the past 12 months it added 2,800 jobs, or 1.2 percent.

Total nonfarm payroll employment grew by 41,000 jobs, or 2.2 percent, since March 2017. Oregon is adding jobs faster than the U.S. rate of 1.5 percent.

Next Press Releases
The Oregon Employment Department plans to release the March county and metropolitan area unemployment rates on Tuesday, April 24th, and the next statewide unemployment rate and employment survey data for April on Tuesday, May 15th.
 
Notes:
All numbers in the above narrative are seasonally adjusted except for the component industries within retail trade and manufacturing.

The Oregon Employment Department and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) work cooperatively to develop and publish monthly Oregon payroll employment and labor force data. The estimates of monthly job gains and losses are based on a survey of businesses. The estimates of unemployment are based on a survey of households and other sources.

*Effective with the January 2018 data, employment of Oregon’s approximately 17,000 home care workers are counted in private health care and social assistance instead of state government. The change was due to legislative action clarifying that for purposes of workforce and labor market information, home care workers are not employees of state government. The reclassification affects private sector and government monthly change figures for January 2018 and will affect over-the-year change figures through December 2018. It does not affect total payroll employment levels.

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