Oregon Adds 4,600 Jobs in October

In October, Oregon’s nonfarm payroll employment grew by 4,600 jobs, following a revised gain of 4,700 jobs in September. Monthly gains in October were widespread, with nine of the top 13 industries adding jobs, led by professional and business services (+1,500 jobs); wholesale trade (+1,000 jobs); and government (+1,000 jobs). Only two major industries cut jobs substantially in October: private educational services (-800 jobs) and financial activities (-900 jobs).

Oregon’s unemployment rate was 3.8 percent in October, the same as in August and September. These were Oregon’s lowest unemployment rates since comparable records began in 1976. The U.S. unemployment rate held steady at 3.7 percent in both September and October.

Oregon’s nonfarm payroll employment increased by 38,100 jobs, or 2.0 percent, since October 2017. In that time, construction remained the fastest growing industry, with a gain of 8,200 jobs, or 8.2 percent. Health care and social assistance added 6,200 jobs, or 2.6 percent. Professional and business services also grew rapidly, adding 5,400 jobs, or 2.2 percent. However, three of Oregon’s major industries slowed recently, with gains close to one percent since October 2017: financial activities (+1,000 jobs, or 1.0%); leisure and hospitality (+1,700 jobs, or 0.8%); and retail trade (+1,200 jobs, or 0.6%). And two industries declined over the year: information ( 100 jobs, or -0.3%) and private educational services (-800 jobs, or -2.2%). 

Over the past two years, retail trade has seen multiple store closures and the bankruptcies of several major national retailers. These closures and other factors contributed to a moderation in overall retail employment growth. Since October 2016, Oregon’s retail employment grew at an annual rate of only 1.0%, which was about half the growth rate of Oregon’s total nonfarm payroll employment. Somewhat counterbalancing retail’s slowing was moderate growth in wholesale trade (up 2.8% in the past 12 months) and in transportation, warehousing, and utilities, which grew consistently close to a three percent annual rate over the past six years. 

Next Press Releases
The Oregon Employment Department plans to release the October county and metropolitan area unemployment rates on Tuesday, November 20th, and the next statewide unemployment rate and employment survey data for November on Tuesday, December 18th. 

Notes: 
All numbers in the above narrative are seasonally adjusted.

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.

The Oregon Employment Department publishes payroll employment estimates that are revised quarterly by using employment counts from employer unemployment insurance tax records. All department publications use this Official Oregon Series data unless noted otherwise. This month’s release incorporates the April, May, and June 2018 tax records data. The department continues to make the original nonfarm payroll employment series available; these data are produced by the BLS.

*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.

The PDF version of the news release, including tables and graphs, can be found at www.QualityInfo.org/press-release. To obtain the data in other formats such as in Excel, visit www.QualityInfo.org, then within the top banner, select Economic Data, then choose LAUS or CES. To request the press release as a Word document, contact the person shown at the top of this press release.

For help finding jobs and training resources, visit one of the state's WorkSource Oregon centers or go to: www.WorkSourceOregon.org.

Equal Opportunity program — auxiliary aids and services available upon request to individuals with disabilities. Contact: (503) 947-1794. For people who are deaf or hard of hearing, call 711 Telecommunications Relay Services.